You Don't See Me
by Tikina
Summary: UPDATED 11-14-04 ... HE'S BACK!
1. Default Chapter

**Disclaimer:**    
**_All the HP-characters, potions, creatures etc. that you recognize from the books belong to J.K. Rowling.  
The other characters, potions, creatures etc. are mine, all mine! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  
  
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**_~CHAPTER ONE~_**

It was a cool summer night at the beginning of September. There was a gentle breeze blowing and the temperature was just perfect - not too cold and not too hot. A young woman, about twenty years old, arrived outside the Hogwarts gates in a dark carriage.   
She thanked the driver for handing her two suitcases over and, after paying the man, she walked towards the castle, the suitcases in her gloved hands.   
She was wearing a long dress covered by a long coat, both black. Her black hair was pulled in a knot behind her head.   
High-heeled boots clicked on the stones as she approached the big wooden door.   
She put her suitcases on the ground as she opened the doors. After putting them inside she stepped into the building and closed the doors. 

She picked up the suitcases again and walked toward the great hall. When she entered it, all of the students were looking at her, wondering who she was.   
"Ah, here is our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Students, please welcome Miss Elizabeth Harper," Albus Dumbledore told the students with a smile. There was a little applause as Elizabeth walked towards the staff table and sat down.  
  
Meanwhile, Hermione Granger was sitting at the Gryffindor table. It seemed like just yesterday that she walked into the great hall for the first time, being sorted.   
This would be her last year at Hogwarts, and although she was really excited to go to a university next year, she was also a bit sad leaving her second home.

"And finally I would like to introduce this year's Head girl, Miss Hermione Granger," Dumbledore said.   
Hermione got up as all the students, except the Slytherins, applauded. 

"And this year's Head boy, Mr. Damien Daniels." A blonde Ravenclaw stood up as he received his applause. 

After the feast the students left for their dorms. Hermione went with the teachers and Damien to Dumbledore's office.   
"I'm glad to see all of you here," Dumbledore began. "Well, as you already heard, Miss Harper is our new D.A.D.A. teacher. Her classroom will not be on the second floor, per usual, but in the dungeons." Hermione was confused. Why would Dumbledore do that?   
She looked at Snape. He clearly wasn't happy with the new arrangement. 

Twenty minutes later the meeting was over. Professor McGonagall showed Hermione the way to her dorm. She stopped in front of a painting of a young girl who was wearing a beautiful white dress holding an umbrella. "Hello, what will your password be?" She asked Hermione after McGonagall had left.   
"Dentist," She said smiling.

The portrait opened and Hermione walked up the ivory stairs that led toward her rooms. It was in Gryffindor colors, red and gold.   
There was a big red couch in front of the fireplace and in the back there was a big desk. On the right side of the room was a golden door.   
Behind the door was a bedroom. In the room there was a large poster bed, there was another golden door. Next to the door there was a round table with a chair. On the wall in front of the table was a big round mirror. The other golden door that Hermione had found led to the bathroom. There was a large round tub with ten golden tabs on it. It was white, just like the sink and the toilet.

Hermione went back into her bedroom and saw that the house elves had already brought her things up.   
Crookshanks was already asleep on the bed. Feeling extremely tired, she changed into her nightgown and got into bed.  
  
The next morning the students received their schedules. "What classes do you have?" Ron asked Hermione. 

Hermione looked at her schedule. "First, I have two hours of Arithmacy, then Herbology, and after lunch Care of Magical Creatures," she told Ron.   
She studied her schedule while eating her pancakes. "What's your first class?" 

Ron rolled his eyes "Divination," was his short answer. Hermione couldn't help but chuckle, feeling relieved that she had dropped it after her third year.

Drinking her coffee, she looked at the staff table. Their new teacher, Professor Harper, wasn't there. "So, Herm, how's your new room?" Harry asked.

"It's great. You should come see it tonight," she answered. The boys promised that they would visit her after quidditch practice.

Hermione looked at her watch "Oh, I have to go!" She exclaimed. "I have to stop at the library first." Harry and Ron looked at each other.   
Their first day hadn't even started yet, and already Hermione was heading toward the library.  
  
During dinner Hermione couldn't stop talking about the new things she had learned in Arithmacy. Clearly, Harry and Ron weren't interested, and after a few minutes the subject had changed. Surprisingly enough, they were talking about quidditch. Even Ginny couldn't stop talking about quidditch.   
While she was eating her spaghetti, Hermione looked at the staff table again. Professor Snape was sitting between Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. He was rolling his eyes while Professor Dumbledore was talking to him with a smile on his face. Hermione almost felt sorry for him. Almost. When she looked closer at the staff table, she saw that Professor Harper wasn't there. She must like privacy, Hermione thought, wondering what her new professor was like.   
After dinner she went back to her dorm to study. It was almost eight o'clock when she heard two voices outside. "We don't know the password, we're just visiting!" she heard Ron's voice yell at the portrait. "Maybe we should just call her," Harry said in a calm voice.   
"No need to, I already heard Ron yell at my portrait," Hermione said with a smile on her face when she opened the portrait.   
Ron's mouth fell open when he saw the living room. "Wow, you have all this just for yourself?" he asked her in amazement.   
"Yes, isn't it great?" She exclaimed. "Let me show you the rest," she continued.  
  
After the boys had seen everything the three of them went back to the living room. "So when are you on duty?" Harry suddenly asked her.   
"Duty? What am I, a police man?" Hermione asked, a bit confused with his question. It didn't take long before she realized what he was talking about.   
"Oh no, I'm not telling you two. Don't think that I won't give you detention if I catch you," she said quickly. Ron was shocked "You would give US detention?"   
Hermione nodded, "Yes, detention with Snape," she said simply. Harry pretended to have a hearth attack.   
"Hermione Granger, don't ever say something like that again. My poor little heart couldn't possibly take it!" He exclaimed.   
"So maybe Trelawney is right after all! You will die this year," Ron said smiling. Hermione groaned, "She predicted your death AGAIN?" Harry nodded grimly.   
"Oh well, she's just a quack anyways," she told him. Laughing, they sat down and continued talking about their first day back at Hogwarts.  
After a while they started to discuss their new D.A.D.A. teacher. "I wonder what she's like," Harry said, "I mean, she looks pretty young."   
"Pretty young or just pretty?" Ron asked him with a wide grin on his face. "Oh shut up Ron!" Harry said, turning a bit red.   
"So what was she like during that meeting?" he asked Hermione quickly. Hermione shrugged, "She didn't talk at all; but Dumbledore told us that they had moved the classroom from the second floor to the dungeons." "Why did they do that?" Harry asked her.  
"They didn't tell us why," Hermione said. "When do we have D.A.D.A.?" Ron asked suddenly. "Tomorrow, after potions," Hermione said.   
She had already memorized her entire schedule. Harry groaned "We have potions tomorrow?" Hermione nodded. "Yeah, right after lunch.   
We are going to make Polyjuice potion this year," she said with a smile. Ron snorted "Just make sure you don't use one of Crookshanks' hairs!" He said, trying not to laugh. "Oh shut up!" Hermione told him, while she threw a cushion at Ron's head.   
  
The next day, after lunch, they had potions. To their relief they had it together with the Hufflepuffs.   
This year the Gryffindors didn't have any classes with the Slytherins, and they were grateful for that.   
Snape started his class by pointing out the dangers of the potions they were going to make.   
"This year you will be making potions that can be pretty dangerous, if they are not properly prepared," he said, looking at Neville Longbottom. Neville gulped.   
"Don't worry, Mister Longbottom. I am sure that Miss Granger will be there for you, telling you exactly what to do.   
No matter how much detention she will receive for that," Snape said. He looked at Hermione for a moment.   
"Hopefully she's able to brew a proper Polyjuice potion today, or you might end up looking like a cat." Hermione turned red. How on earth did he know that?   
After that warning they started their potion. Once potions was over, the students crossed the hall towards the D.A.D.A. class.   
  
Everyone was rather excited; they all wondered what professor Harper would be like. Silently the students walked into the classroom.   
It was big and had a dusty look. One little window at the back of the class shined a bright light over the back row. The rest of the room was lit by candles.   
Next to the door was a large bookcase filled with books. Right across from the bookcase was a big wooden door, which led to the professor's office.   
In front of the room was professor Harper's desk. Elizabeth Harper was looking at her schedule. She stood up when she saw that all the students had found a seat.   
"Good afternoon. I'm Professor Harper, and I will be your D.A.D.A. teacher for this year." Her bright blue eyes glided over the students, as if she wanted to memorize all their faces just by looking at them once. She got a list out of her desk drawer and began to read the names of the students, to see if they were all present. "Now, today's lesson will be about Sandcritters."   
The professor explained that Sandcritters were sand-colored creatures, the size of a house elf.   
They mostly live in deserts, but could also be found at beaches. Since they were sand-colored they were hard to detect, which gave them the opportunity to bite their victims unnoticed. A Sandcritter-bite could dehydrate the victim. During their class the students learned how to detect and get rid of the Sandcritters and, most importantly, how to heal their bites. Professor Harper spoke in a cold, but friendly voice. And, much to Hermione's surprise, she knew the students by name after the first fifteen minutes. Hermione was delighted by the amount of things she had learned in just one lesson.   
She just hoped that every lesson would be like the first one.   
Together with Ron and Harry, she walked to the great hall for breakfast. "Finally, we have a normal D.A.D.A. teacher again!" Ron exclaimed when they were walking up the stairs. "I know," Hermione said. "She's the best one we had since Lupin." Harry nodded in agreement


	2. Chapter two

Disclaimer:    
_All I own is the bag of potato chips that's in front of me and my bad sense of humor (believe me it's bad).  
The HP-characters that you recognize from the books (and the movie of course) belong to J.K. Rowling._

_~CHAPTER TWO~_

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That Tuesday night Hermione had 'duty', as she, Harry and Ron now called it. She had to make sure that there were no students out of bed after curfew.

Hoping that she would find Malfoy out of his dorm, as she would love to give him detention, she headed towards the hallways that led to the Slytherin common room. When there were no Slytherins to be found Hermione searched the rest of the castle.

She was near the Astronomy tower when she heard footsteps. As silently as she could, she approached them. Quickly, she turned around the corner to see whose footsteps she had been hearing. "Miss Granger, a week's detention for roaming the halls after curfew." The footsteps she had heard were from Professor Snape. 

Obviously, he didn't know what she was doing in the halls.

"But Professor, I'm the Head Girl," she said in her defense. 

Snape snorted, "Even the Head Girl can receive detention. I thought a know-it-all like you would know this."

Hermione bit her lip. "What I meant Professor, is that tonight is my turn to make sure that students don't roam the halls, as you call it, after their curfew," she snapped at him. Snape curled his lip, "Very well then, I won't give you detention for roaming the halls."

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said politely. 

"Still, a detention for a week because of your attitude," Snape said with a grin on his face. "What? You can't do that!" Hermione exclaimed. 

"Oh yes I can," was the answer she got as Snape walked away. "Bastard." Hermione muttered under her breath. 

"That will be twenty points from Gryffindor and two weeks of detention, Miss Granger. Starting tomorrow night at eight." 

"Yes Professor," she said, biting her lip trying not to lose her temper.

Around midnight, Hermione returned in her dorm. "Password," the young girl in the portrait said. 

"Dentist," Hermione snapped. "Well someone sure is cranky," said the young girl snidely as she swung the portrait open.

Hermione stormed towards her bedroom and jumped on the bed, scaring Crookshanks, who was sleeping on Hermione's pillow. 

"Oh sorry Crooky," she told the cat, which was now hiding under the bed. "Great, just great," she muttered. 

After she brushed her teeth and changed into her nightgown, she got into bed.

The next evening, at eight o'clock, Hermione arrived at the dungeons. She walked into the potions classroom. Snape was in the back brewing a potion; he looked up when he heard the door close. "Just a minute Miss Granger." Nervously, Hermione walked towards the potions master and took a seat near his desk at the front of the class. She put her bag on her desk. It didn't take him long to finish the potion. 

"Miss Ganger, clean the cauldrons," he hissed at her when he saw her sitting. Slowly, Hermione got up from the chair and took out her wand. "The muggle-way," Snape snapped. "And I will be able to tell if you use magic," he warned her before he left the classroom. Hermione groaned, this was going to take her all night. 

Two hours later the door to the classroom opened again. Hermione jumped when she heard footsteps behind her. Quickly she turned around; Professor Harper was standing behind her. "Hello Miss…Granger, was it?" the professor asked. Hermione nodded. 

"Yes. Professor Snape isn't here, I don't know where he is," she said quickly. "That's all right, I just need some ingredients," Professor Harper told her as she walked towards Snape's office. "I doubt I will be the first one to take them without his permission. Am I right?" She winked. Hermione blushed. Did everybody know what she had done in her second year? When Professor Harper came out of the office she was carrying a little black bag. "If he asks you about the ingredients just tell him that I took them. If he doesn't ask…" She paused for a while, thinking, "then just don't tell him anything, ok?" Hermione nodded, hoping that Snape wouldn't find out. Surely that would give her even more detention, whether she had taken the ingredients or not.

At half past eleven Hermione had finished cleaning the cauldrons. There wasn't a single spot to be found on them. She wondered if she would have to wait until Snape returned, or if she was free to go. Just to be sure, she stayed in the classroom. She sat down in the chair near Snape's desk and got a book out of her bag. It was getting later and later, Hermione was still sitting in the chair reading her Arithmacy book. She rubbed her eyes, wishing that she was lying in her bed. Just for a minute, she closed her eyes. "MISS GRANGER, WAKE UP!" Hermione opened her eyes.  What happened, where was she? It took a minute before she realized what had happened.  Instead of closing her eyes for a minute, she had fallen asleep. Her Arithmacy book was lying on the floor. When she looked at her watch, she saw that it was one o'clock.  She started to apologize immediately. "I'm so sorry, I just…." 

"I don't want to hear your excuses," Snape hissed at her.  He crossed his arms. "Congratulations, you are the first Head Girl to my knowledge to receive detention twice in her first week. This adds another week to your detention. And ten points from Gryffindor." Hermione looked at the floor, not speaking. "Go back to your dormitory, before I add another week for being out after curfew," Snape said. "Yes sir," Hermione said while she picked up her book. 

As quickly as she could she got her bag and left the classroom.

"By Merlin, you look awful!" Hermione looked up from her breakfast. Ginny Weasley sat down next to her. "Did something happen?" Hermione took a deep breath and told her friend what had happened. "Three weeks of detention!" Ginny exclaimed, "No wonder you look so depressed." Hermione smiled faintly, "Thanks Gin."

"Oi Ginny, move over." Ron and Harry were standing behind the two girls. To Hermione's surprise they wore their quidditch robes. 

"We just had quidditch practice," Harry told her when he saw the surprised look on Hermione's face. "This early? Didn't you used to complain when Wood made you practice before breakfast?" she asked Harry. "That's what I've been telling him," Ron said. "Let's face it, our quidditch captain sucks!" He ducked under the table as Harry tried to hit him. "I do not suck! I just want to make sure that we win the Quidditch Cup in our last year."

Hermione chuckled, he sounded exactly like Oliver Wood. "Why didn't you go to practice?" she asked Ginny, who was also on the team. When Harry returned as the Gryffindor seeker, Ginny replaced one of her brothers, as a beater. 

She smiled at Hermione, "Boys can't enter the girls' dormitory." Harry narrowed his eyes. "And she will pay for that one!" he said, trying to sound threatening.

The first lesson they had was Charms. After Professor Flitwick had told them how important their last year was, just like every other teacher had done, they learned how to enlarge objects. By the end of the lesson Hermione's feather was so big that it didn't fit on her table anymore.

After dinner Hermione went to the library to do a bit of research for her Transfiguration homework. When she looked at her watch, she saw that it was a minute to eight. She hurried down to the dungeons, the last thing she wanted was to be late and get even more detention. Professor Snape was packing a bag when Hermione entered the room. He stopped immediately when she entered. "Miss Granger, follow me." As he led her towards the D.A.D.A. classroom, Hermione wondered why. 

"Harper!" Snape yelled once they were inside. Professor Harper walked out of her office, carrying a glass of red wine. 

"Can I help you?" she asked. 

"Yes, Miss Granger here has detention tonight. Unfortunately I have to go away for a few hours so you will have to watch her for me."

Professor Harper snorted. "Why would I do that? Surely you can move the detention." 

Snape narrowed his eyes. "I'm not only punishing Granger, I'm also punishing you." 

Harper laughed. "Punishing me? May I remind you that I am not a student? I'm a teacher." 

"And may I remind you that even a teacher, such as yourself, is not allowed to steal ingredients out of my office," Snape snapped at her. 

Professor Harper gasped, "Did a teacher steal something out of your office? Which teacher was it?"

Snape crossed his arms. "I know it was you." 

Harper took a sip of her wine. "Can you prove that it was me?" she asked coldly.

Snape sighed as he walked towards the door, "I don't have time for this. Miss Granger has to stay in detention here until I return." 

Without waiting for a reply he left. "Miss Granger, please sit down." Professor Harper conjured a luxurious chair in front of her desk. Hermione sat down, sitting across from her teacher. "Would you like some tea?" Hermione nodded. Her teacher disappeared in the office. "So what do you usually have to do in detention?" Harper asked sounding bit insecure, after handing Hermione her cup of tea. The truth was that she had never given anyone detention before, and she had no idea what Hermione should do while she was in her classroom. 

"Well, I haven't been in detention much. Professor Snape always makes people clean the cauldrons, the muggle way." Hermione explained. 

"Why are you in detention anyway?" Harper wondered, Hermione didn't seem like the type of girl that would get two weeks worth of detention. Hermione explained what had happened. "Are you serious? I've heard that he is unreasonable, but this is outrageous." Harper exclaimed.  After she thought for a few minutes, she continued, "I'm afraid that you still have to stay here in 'detention', but you are free to read or study." She gestured at Hermione's bag.

Hermione was grateful for this, she already was starting to get worried that she wouldn't be able to finish all of her homework in time now that she had detention almost every night.

Professor Snape returned around eleven o'clock. Hermione had just finished her Care of Magical Creatures' homework. 

"Miss Granger, you may go now. Harper, a word." Snape said quickly. Hermione immediately packed her bags and left. She could hear Snape yelling at her D.A.D.A.teacher. Curious as she was, she stopped and listened to what he was saying. "May I ask why you needed those ingredients?" Snape asked. 

"Of course you may, although I have to warn you, I may not answer," Professor Harper answered calmly. Hermione moved closer to the door, wondering what Snape's answer was going to be. 

"Well?" Snape asked, clearly becoming irritated. "Are you going to answer my question or not?" 

Harper sighed, "I already answered it." "No you didn't!" Snape exclaimed so loudly that it startled Hermione. 

"Yes I did. You asked me if you could ask me why I needed your ingredients. I told you that you could ask me that question. Have you forgotten that already?" Harper explained. Hermione grinned, Snape is not going to like that one, she thought. 

Instead of an outburst which Hermione had expected, he continued in a cold voice. "Why do you need those ingredients?"

"I'm not answering that question," Harper simply said. "It's rather private." 

"It isn't when you are stealing ingredients from ME, now I demand to know why you need them," Snape hissed. 

"Aren't YOU the potions master? Can't you figure it out yourself?" Harper asked him, getting a bit annoyed. 

"Phoenix blood, toad skin and seaweed can be used for more than one potion. I am not a mind reader, Miss Harper," Snape explained.

"I agree, it can be used for many potions. I used it for the Femilica Potion." There was a deadly silence in the classroom. Hermione understood why. 

She had read about the potion during last year's summer vacation. The Femilica Potion was a potion that witches used when they suffered from PMS. 

Snape coughed a few times, and then muttered something. Hermione moved closer to the door, holding her ear against it, in order to hear the conversation better. 

"Apology accepted," Harper said cheerfully. So that's what he muttered; he was apologizing, Hermione thought.

Suddenly the door was pulled open from the inside. Hermione fell face down on the floor. 

She looked up to see the potions master scowling at her.  
  


"Well, it looks like our Head girl now has three weeks of detention to serve."


	3. Chapter three

**Disclaimer:**    
**_All I own is the empty bag of potato chips that's in front of me, and the plot to this story.  
The last time I checked, the HP-characters still belonged to J.K. Rowling.  
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**_~CHAPTER THREE~_**

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Hermione walked back towards her room, feeling rather depressed. This was nothing like her. She didn't even know why she had listened at the door. To prevent herself from crying she looked at her shoes. "Dentist." She told the portrait without looking up.  
But nothing happened. Tears were starting to well in her eyes. Slowly, she looked up. The young girl on the portrait wasn't there.  
Hermione sighed. Great, just what she needed. Grimly, she thought about an expression she once heard. Whatever can go wrong will go wrong.* Or something like that. Suddenly she heard a voice, "Why are you crying?"  
The young girl in the portrait had returned. "Nothing, just….." Hermione started. "Are you homesick?" The girl asked her gently. "Yes, homesick. Just a bit." Hermione said quickly. "Can you let me in now?"  The girl shook her head, "Not without your password." After saying the password, Hermione went straight to bed. Crookshanks wasn't in Hermione's bed, which was a bit odd. Hermione was too tired to wonder where her familiar was and fell asleep.

The next day Hermione didn't have classes until the fourth period. When she headed towards the library after breakfast, she remembered something.   
She had to serve detention tonight, but she also had 'duty'. As quickly as she could she walked towards the dungeons. When she arrived, she saw Draco Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins waiting in front of the D.A.D.A. classroom.  
"If it isn't the mudblood. What's wrong? Can't find your way to your own class anymore?" Malfoy scowled at her. Instead of answering him she just shot him a nasty look. The last thing she wanted was to be caught by Snape while she was insulting Malfoy. No doubt that would give her even more detention.  
  


Hermione entered Snapes classroom. It was empty. "Professor." She said rather loud.  
There was no reply. Realizing that he might be in his office, Hermione slowly walked towards the office door. She knocked two times. "Professor." She said again.   
There was still no reply. Hermione reached for the doorknob, the door was unlocked.  
Slowly she pulled the heavy door towards her. It opened just a crack, when…………

BANG  
Someone had closed the door by pushing it. As quickly as she could, a startled Hermione turned around. Snape was standing in front of her, his hand still holding the door closed.  
"Professor, I….I…..I….I…" Hermione started, she was lost for words. "I……I…"  
"Although the letter I is a fascinating letter, I would like to know what you are doing in MY classroom when you shouldn't be here, Miss Granger." Snape hissed at her. "I…..I….I'm sorry." Hermione began "I needed to speak with you and I thought you might be in your office."  
Snape crossed his arms. "And what was so important that it couldn't wait any longer?" "I have detention tonight." Hermione said quickly. "Are you here to remind me of the fact that you have detention?" Snape snapped at her. Hermione took a step back, her back was now against the door of Snape's office. "No sir, I also have Head girl duties tonight. To make sure that there are no students who are roaming the hallways after curfew."

There was a long pause. "You will have detention immediately after dinner." Snape finally said. "You will have to serve detention until your duties begin." Hermione nodded. "Now get out!" Snape yelled at her. Hermione left the dungeons as fast as she could. 

Since it was very crowded in the library, Hermione decided to study at the quidditch field. Harry and Ron were practicing. Amazed by the fact that they couldn't seem to find the motivation to do their homework, but were never too tired to practice their sport, Hermione started to read.   
A soft cough behind her disturbed her. Irritated Hermione looked up while shutting her book. It was Damien Daniels, the head boy. "Hello." Hermione said kindly, silently wishing he wouldn't stay for a chat since she wanted to continue her reading.  
"Hello, mind if I sit here?" He asked her. Hermione shook her head, cursing on the inside. There was a long silence between the Head boy and Head girl.  
"Nice weather isn't it?" Damien finally said. "Yes, very nice." Hermione replied. She opened her book again, hoping that Damien would get the subtle hint. Again, there was a long silence. "I haven't seen you much the last couple of days." Damien finally said.  
"What?" Hermione asked confused. "You're usually are in the library every night. Except for the last days." Damien explained. "Oh that!" Hermione exclaimed "I've been in detention." Damien frowned "You? Detention? With who?" "Snape." She said. Damien nodded in understanding. "No doubt he would do anything to give YOU detention." He told her. When Harry and Ron walked towards them he left. Leaving a confused Hermione behind.

"Hey Moine." Ron greeted her. "Hi. Is practice over?" She asked him. Her two best friends were standing in front of her. "Who was that?" Harry asked, trying to sound casually. "Damien, he's the head boy." Hermione told them.  
"Was he bothering you?" Ron asked sharply. They always did this whenever a boy spoke to her. It was like having two older brothers. Suddenly, Hermione understand what Ginny had been complaining about all these years. "No. He just wanted to know when the next meeting with Dumbledore is. That's all." Hermione said casually. Although she didn't like to lie to her friends like that, it was the only way to get them off her back.

Luckily the two boys were satisfied with her answer and started to talk about quidditch, yet again.

Right after dinner Hermione went down to the dungeons. She knocked on the door, there was no answer. She knocked again. Hermione was in doubt whether she should enter the classroom or not. The last thing she wanted was to get even more detention. "Professor?" She said rather loudly. "Yes?" a silky voice behind her asked.  
Hermione jumped "Professor! I'm here for my detention." She said quickly. "I know why you are here." He said, looking into her eyes. Hermione nodded. There was a long silence between the Head girl and the potions master. "Well?" Snape suddenly asked, narrowing his eyes. His question confused Hermione "Well, what?" she asked. Snape rolled his eyes "Well aren't you going to go inside for your detention? Or would you like to serve more of it?"' he hissed at her.   
  


Hermione blushed. How could she be so stupid? While she opened the door, she apologized to her teacher. "You can start cleaning the cauldrons, Miss Granger." Snape snapped. "Without magic."

Without making a sound Hermione started to clean the cauldrons. If she never had to clean one again, she would die happy. She worked in silence while Snape was grading papers. After she had worked for an hour Snape got up from his chair. "Miss Granger, I will have to go to the Head master for a few minutes. You are to remain here until I return." He told her. Hermione nodded, "Yes, sir."

Snape walked towards her, holding out his hand. "Your wand, Miss Granger."   
"What?" Hermione asked him in confusion. For a moment she thought it was a joke. But this was Snape, and Snape didn't make jokes. "I asked you for your wand, Miss Granger." He said impatiently. Hermione got nervous "Why do you need my wand?" She asked him, her voice trembling. "I'm taking it with me to make sure that you don't use magic while I'm away." He explained to her. Hermione's eyes widened. "No!" she exclaimed "I'm not giving my wand away." This was absurd. Why would she give her wand to someone else? "Miss Granger, I don't have time for this. Now give me your wand." Snape snapped at her. "No." Hermione snapped back. She didn't care if he would give her more detention, he was not getting her wand. Without it she would be helpless.  
"Accio wand." Before she knew what had happened her wand flew into Snapes hand.   
He walked out of the classroom without saying a word.

Hermione continued cleaning the cauldrons, tears started to well up in her eyes. Half an hour later, Snape returned. He began to smirk when he saw the tears in her eyes. "Here's your wand, Miss Granger." As quickly as she could she grabbed her wand, putting it safely away in her robes. She finished cleaning the cauldrons in silence. When she was done it was nine o'clock. Her duties didn't start until 10.30. She sighed in relief, good that way she had some time to do her homework.  
She walked towards the professor, who was still sitting at his desk grading papers. "Uhm, professor? I'm done cleaning the cauldrons. I'll just go now." She told him.   
He looked up, "What time is it?" Hermione looked on her watch "Nine o'clock, sir." He nodded "What time do your Head girl duties start?" "10.30, sir." Hermione replied. "You will stay here until 10.30, writing an essay about the Femilica-potion. Seeing as you were so interested in it yesterday." Snape told her. He opened his desk drawer and got out a large piece of parchment, a quill, a bottle of ink and a book. "Your essay will have to cover this piece of parchment, now start." He snapped. 

As quickly as possible Hermione sat down. She couldn't believe that Snape still let her stay until 10.30! That was longer then a normal detention. Hermione also knew that if she said anything about it, he would only give her more detention. Once she had put all of the things Snape gotten her in front of her she took a look at the book. There was a piece of parchment sticking out of it. Unsure what she had to use the book for she looked at the potions master, he was busy grading papers. Hermione opened the book on the page where the parchment was sticking out, the page was about the Femilica-potion.

She dipped the quill in the inkbottle and started to work on her essay. Every five minutes Hermione glanced at her watch, but it didn't make the time pass any faster. 

Finally it was 10.30. Hermione made sure that she finished her essay just in time, the last thing she wanted was for Snape to give her another assignment.

Slowly she got up. She coughed a few times to get Snapes attention. He looked up, rather irritated. "I've finished my essay." Hermione told him, putting the piece of parchment on his desk.

Snape looked at if for a moment, got his wand out and tipped on the parchment while he muttered something. Hermione wondered why he did that. Her question was answered when she saw the piece of parchment ripping itself apart. She couldn't believe it. It took her an hour and a half to write the essay and all Snape did was destroying it without even reading it. She bit on her lip to prevent herself from snapping at the professor, which only would lead to even more detention.

"It's 10.30, Miss Granger. You'll have detention tomorrow at eight o'clock. You may go now." He told her in his usual cold voice. "Yes, professor." She answered before she left the potions-classroom.

It was a calm night for Hermione. She only caught two Hufflepuffs in the Astronomy tower. For some reason that tower was real popular with students who wanted to be alone. Around midnight Hermione heard footsteps near the library.

She grinned by the thought of catching another student out of bed. She didn't know why, but for some reason she liked doing that. It was pretty dark when she had reached the library. "Lumos." Hermione muttered. The footsteps had stopped. Hermione listened carefully, but the footsteps didn't continue. She walked towards the place where she had heard them. There was someone walking past the library entrance. When the person saw Hermione, it stopped. Hermione lifted her wand to shine on the person.   
The person shielded his, or her, eyes with her hands. "What are you doing here?" Hermione asked sharply. "The same thing as you." A familiar voice said. "Could you stop shining in my eyes please?" Hermione lowered her wand. After she had done so, she saw who the person in front of her was.

*Murphy's law:  'If anything can go wrong, it will'**__**

**_AUTOR'S NOTES:_**

**Ckat44: _Thanks, HG/SS is my favorite ship too! But it's gonna take a while before it happens. And Harper will continue to piss Snape off _****_J_**

**Christie Chang: _Thank you!_**

**Melwasul: _Poor Hermione? There are a lot of people who would trade places with her. LOL_**

**Daintress:_ Thanks, I'll update at least once a week. BTW Your 'Lucius got run over by a snorkack' fic is hilarious!!!_**


	4. Chapter four

_Hey everybody, I hope you all had a nice Christmas and I want to wish you a happy new year!  
~Tikina~_

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**Disclaimer:**    
**_If you recognize it, it belongs to J.K. Rowling._**

**_OR you've already read it, but that's a completely different story._**

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**_~CHAPTER FOUR~_**

"Professor Harper, I'm so sorry!" Hermione exclaimed. "I thought you were a student." To Hermione's relief professor Harper smiled "It's ok." Together they walked to a hallway that wasn't as dark as the one near the library. Professor Harper asked Hermione if she had caught any students out of bed. "Yes, two hufflepuffs. They were in the Astronomy tower together." Hermione answered. 

Harper chuckled "That tower sure is popular. I also caught two students there. Both from Gryffindor." "Really? Who?" Hermione wanted to know.

"Miss Lavender Brown and Mr. Neville Longbottom." After hearing this Hermione couldn't help but laugh. She had never imagined those two together. 

Hermione glanced at her watch, it was 12.30. She had one more hour of Head girl duties to do, she realized when she started to yawn. 

Finally it was 1.30, Hermione got to her dorm, hoping that the girl was in her portrait. To her relief, she was. But the girl wasn't alone. She had a visitor, a young boy who looked like the girl. He was wearing a white suite. "Victoria, someone wants to enter." The young boy told the girl. Victoria looked up. "Hello, this is my little brother Nigel." She told Hermione. "His portrait is in front of the Head boys' room."

"Really? How nice." Hermione said, just to be polite. "Dentist." She added quickly.

"What?" Nigel asked her. Victoria poked her little brother, "That's the password you dummy." The siblings were arguing while the portrait opened. Hermione was relieved to be an only child.

The next morning Hermione didn't go to the great hall for breakfast. Although she had slept an hour extra she was still tired. She had to hurry to Transfiguration, when she entered the classroom professor McGonagall was about to start. "Miss Granger, why are you so late?" She wanted to know. "I'm sorry, I overslept." Hermione excused herself. "10 points from Gryffindor. Now, please take your seat." McGonagall said. Without saying a word Hermione sat down next to Harry, who looked worried at her.  
  


When the class was over Harry approached Hermione. Ron was already on his way to the quidditch field. "Herm, can I talk with you for a minute?" He asked her. "Sure." Hermione said, wondering what Harry needed to talk about. "You don't have classes until after lunch, right?" Harry asked carefully. Hermione nodded. "Is it ok if I talk with you in your dorm?" Harry asked. "Ok." Hermione said slowly. 

The two friends walked in silence towards the Head girl's dorm. They sat down. "Uhm…I wanted to talk with you." Harry began. "Are you all right?" 

"Yes, of course. What would be wrong?" Hermione asked confused, not knowing what her friend meant. "You're just not yourself lately. Getting late for class, the detentions. Even I never got 3 weeks of detention from Snape. Did something happen?"

Hermione started to explain why she had gotten the detentions. Harry was furious. "He can't do that!" He exclaimed. Hermione snorted "Apparently he can." She said. "And I did deserve to get that last week. I mean, I was eavesdropping after all."

"What were they talking about?" Harry wanted to know. After Hermione had told him that Harper explained to Snape that she used the ingredients for a PMS-potion, Harry laughed so hard that he almost fell off the big red couch. 

"So, everything is alright then? Harry asked one more time, to be sure. "Yes, I'm alright." Hermione assured him. "You can go practice quidditch now, with Ron." She added, grinning. Harry smiled at her.

After Harry left, Hermione started to work on her Transfiguration homework. She had to write an essay about the dangers of transforming animals. Suddenly Hermione's stomach growled. Hermione looked at her watch, she saw that it was almost time for lunch. 

"Hey Herm." Ron greeted her. Hermione sat down between Ron and Ginny. "We're going to visit Hagrid tomorrow, are you coming with us?" Ron asked Hermione while she was drinking her coffee. Hermione nodded. "He said he had something to show us." Harry told his best friends. Ron and Hermione groaned. Whenever Hagrid had something to show them, it was usually some horrible monster.

The rest of the lunch Harry, Ron and Ginny talked about quidditch. The Head girl sighed, wishing that her friends could talk about something else for once.

The rest of day went by pretty fast. Before she knew it, Hermione was on her way to the dungeons for her detention. She knocked on the door, after hearing a cold voice ordering her to enter she walked into the classroom. "Miss Granger, you know what to do." Snape told her, pointing at the filthy cauldrons. "Yes sir." She said.

Hermione started scrubbing the cauldrons. When she had done half of the cauldrons, the Head girl noticed that she was getting pretty fast at cleaning them.

It didn't take her long to finish the remaining cauldrons. After she had finished, Hermione walked over towards the professor's desk. "Professor, I'm done cleaning the cauldrons."

Snape looked displeased, "Already?" He snarled at her. "Are you sure that you cleaned them well enough?" He got up and started to inspect the cauldrons, which were as clean as possible. "Don't think that your detention is over, Miss Granger." Snape softly said. 

There was a knock on the door. Without waiting for a reply Madam Pomfrey walked into the classroom. "Poppy, what can I do for you?" Snape asked. "Severus, I'm all out of my Dreamless sleeping potion. Can you please make some for me tonight?" Madam Pomfrey asked, not noticing Hermione. "Certainly, just give me an hour and a half." Snape told his colleague. "Thank you." Madam Pomfrey said, smiling. 

Immediately after Madam Pomfrey had left, Snape set up a cauldron. The ingredients were put on his desk. "Miss Granger, start chopping that Asphodel root." He yelled at Hermione, who was still standing next to the desk. "Professor, do you have a knife that I can use?" Annoyed by this interruption the potions master walked over towards his desk and got two small silver knifes out of one of the drawers. Without saying a word he threw one of the knifes on the desk. Hermione picked the knife up and started to cut the Asphodel root. In the meanwhile Snape was cutting Porcupine quills.

Hermione was amazed by the fact how fast Snape had cut the quills, but then again he WAS the potions master. He was now watching Hermione cut the Asphodel root, with his arms crossed. "Are you almost done?" He snapped at her. The Head girl focused on the Asphodel root again, she was almost done. As quickly as possible, she handed over the ingredients.

The Asphodel root was the last ingredient that had to be added to the potion.

"Keep stirring the potion clockwise for the next three minutes." Snape instructed Hermione "I'll be right back." He disappeared into his office. A few minutes later he returned with four little purple bottles.

He handed them over to Hermione, who immediately started to fill them with the potion.

"Bring them to Madam Pomfrey. Then clean this mess here." He gestured at the desk where he and Hermione had worked. "I want it to be spotless. Without the use of magic."

As carefully as possible, Hermione picked up the bottles and took them to the infirmary.

On her way there she ran into Harry and Ron. "Hey Herm, are you coming with us we're going to…." But Ron was interrupted by Hermione "Sorry can't, I still have detention." And she immediately walked towards the dungeons. She was afraid to get more detention if it would take her long to return.

Hermione had almost reached the dungeons when she saw Damien. "Hi Hermione." He greeted her. "Hello." She said, still walking. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Damien asked her. Hermione sighed "Actually, no. I have got to go back to detention." She said, impatiently. "Oh, sorry to keep you waiting." Damien said, rather irritated.

As quickly as possible Hermione continued walking. The classroom was empty. Hermione started to clean the desk. She had tried to scrub off the stains that the Asphodel root had left, but it wouldn't come off. Carefully she looked if professor Snape was approaching the classroom. When she saw that the coast was clear, she got out her wand.  "Evanesco." The stains disappeared. Hermione was pleased that she had managed to get the desk spotless. "Perfect." She told herself.

The sound of someone applauding behind her startled the Head girl. Hermione turned around. Professor Snape was now standing in front of her smirking widely. He had been in his office. "Congratulations Miss Granger. You've just managed to get yourself another week of detention. I do believe this is a record."

"Can I please explain it?" Hermione pleaded, hoping that he would understand. Surely he would know about the stains that Asphodel roots can leave behind.

"Miss Granger, I do not allow magic during detention. You used magic, therefore you get more detention. There is nothing to explain." Snape softly said. "Your next detention will be this Mondays. Now go." Without replying, Hermione left the dungeons.

On Saturday, Harry, Hermione and Ron were visiting Hagrid. They were wondering what he wanted to show them this time. "I just hope that it's not an illegal pet." Ron said as they approached Hagrid's house. Harry and Hermione muttered in agreement.

Harry knocked on the door. "Just a minute!" Hagrid called from the inside. He muttered something that the three Gryffindors couldn't understand. A few seconds later Hagrid opened the door, with a big smile on his face. "Hello, how are you guys doing?" He asked them. The three friends were about to answer when they saw someone sitting inside Hagrid's house.

There was a girl, about their age sitting in a large chair. She had bright blue eyes and her brown hair was braided. The jeans that she wore were light blue, with grass stains. On the pink sweater that she was wearing were also grass stains. 

Fang was sitting in her lap, the girl was feeding him small sandwiches. That was probably the reason why he hadn't barked when they knocked on the door. Although she had to be their age, they had never seen the girl before. 

"Hello." Harry greeted the girl. She laughed sheepishly at him and waved at the three Gryffindors. Ron and Hermione waved back. "Would you like some tea?" Hagrid asked the three friends. They all nodded. After Hagrid had poured tea for all of them he sat down next to the girl.

"So what did you wanted to show us?" Harry asked.

"I wanted you to meet someone." Hagrid said proudly. He was obviously talking about the girl. "This is Barbara Ann, but I always call her Barbie." When she heard her name Barbie's smile widened. "Barbie, meet Harry, Hermione and Ron." He told her.

"Hello." Barbie said, in a rather childish voice. "Do you go to Hogwarts too?" Hermione asked, "I don't remember seeing you."

The girl shook her head. She turned towards Hagrid "Can I go play outside with Fang?" she asked. "Can I? Can I?" Immediately after Hagrid nodded she left with Fang.

"So what do you think of her?" Hagrid asked smiling. "She's…….nice." Harry said. "Yeah, very…..friendly." Ron said quickly. Hermione nodded in agreement. Although Barbie had been very nice to them, there was something weird about her. She acted as if she was a small child.  "Is she related to you?" Hermione asked carefully. Hagrid had never mentioned his family much. "Can you tell?" He asked her eagerly. "Yeah a bit." Hermione lied. "So is she a cousin?" Ron wanted to know.

"A cousin? Of course not!" Hagrid exclaimed "She's my daughter."

**Franflutewitch: _You'll get the answers to those questions, don't worry. But it's gonna take a while before I get there. _****_J_**

**Bertie_Bott: _I'm not saying anything………………………………only that it's gonna be HG/SS eventually._**

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**Saerelle: _Thanks for noticing the heart-error, I've corrected it. _**


	5. Chapter five

**Disclaimer:**    
**_Once again, I'm not J.K. Rowling and the characters do not belong to me.  
I'm not making money etc. etc. you get the picture._**

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**_I'm sorry it took so long before I updated!!!!!!!_**

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**_~CHAPTER FIVE~_**

"WHAT?" Harry exclaimed.   
"You never told us that you had a daughter." Hermione said.   
"I didn't know I had a daughter until a few months ago." Hagrid explained.   
"So who's her mother?" Ron wanted to know.

Hagrid started to explain that Madame Maxime, Barbie's mother, had sent the girl to live at Hogwarts.   
Now that Voldemort was back, she wanted her daughter to be at the safest place possible.   
From the window, they could see that she was heading towards the lake. Hagrid got up and tried to stop her from falling in.

"But he only met Madame Maxime in our fourth year. Barbie looks like she's our age." Harry said carefully to his friends.   
"I don't think she's our age." Hermione said after a few seconds. "I mean she IS the daughter of two half-giants."   
Ron and Harry nodded understandingly.

"I wonder where she's staying when Hagrid is teaching." Ron wondered when he, Harry and Hermione were walking back towards the castle. 

"I don't even want to think about that." Harry said, shaking his head.

"So what are you going to do tonight?" Harry asked Hermione.   
Tonight was her first night without detention and Hermione had it all planned out.   
"First I'm going to take a long bath. And then I'm going to do some homework and catch a bit up on my reading." She simply said.   
Ron snorted "Only you would enjoy reading on a Saturday night."

Hermione decided to ignore that comment.

The first thing Hermione did after dinner, was going to the library. It didn't take her long to find the books that she needed.   
She hurried back to her dorm. When she arrived at Victoria's portrait, she saw that the girl wasn't there. Hermione sighed, why couldn't she have a portrait that stayed in her place? Victoria was probably visiting the portrait of her little brother, Nigel.

Hermione waited for almost fifteen minutes, wishing that she knew where Nigel's portrait was.   
The Head girl got tired of standing in front of the empty portrait and, since she had no desire to go to the Gryffindor common room, she decided to sit on the floor in front of the portrait. She opened one of the library books while looking up at the portrait every five minutes.

After sitting on the stone floor for ten minutes Hermione started to wonder if it wasn't smarter to go to the Gryffindor common room.   
There she could at least sit more comfortable. She looked at the portrait again, it was still empty.   
"What on earth are you doing here?" said a cold voice in front of her. 

Hermione looked up, it was professor Snape.   
"I was just sitting." She said quickly as she stood up.   
"That I can see. WHY were you sitting here?" Snape asked impatiently.   
"The girl in my portrait is somewhere else." Hermione replied, pointing at the painting.   
"I was just waiting for her to return." She added quickly, hoping that Snape would understand.   
The potions master narrowed his eyes. "How long has she been gone?" He asked sharply.   
"Uhm…let's see….. I've been waiting for about…. thirty minutes." Hermione answered while she looked on her watch.

"Does this happen a lot?" Snape asked. Hermione wondered why he wanted to know all this.   
"This is the second time, only last time she was back pretty soon." Hermione said. 

Snape walked towards the empty portrait. Slowly he pulled out his wand. He tapped on the frame and muttered "Regresar".   
Two seconds later Victoria appeared in the portrait. Wow, I must remember that spell, Hermione thought.   
She walked towards Victoria, but Snape was blocking her way. 

"What on earth were you thinking, stupid girl." Snape hissed at the portrait.   
Victoria's lip started to tremble, "I was just visiting my brother for a while and…." She started.

"You've been gone for more then thirty minutes!" Snape interrupted her. "You KNOW that you can only leave your frame for ten minutes.   
Or have you forgotten about the rule?"   
There's a rule for that? Hermione thought. She had never heard of it, it wasn't even mentioned in Hogwarts: A history. 

She wasn't sure if she should defend Victoria. True, she had been gone for quite a while.   
But Snape was overreacting by yelling at the poor girl like that.

On the other hand, Hermione didn't want to get even more detention. Finally Snape was done yelling at Victoria, who was now crying.   
Hermione never knew that a portrait could cry and, after Victoria apologized, she could finally go into her dorm.

The first thing she did when she was in her dorm was feeding Crookshanks. Hermione had saved some of the fish, which was for diner, for her cat.   
Crookshanks was happy with all the attention he got from Hermione.   
"Oh, I know, I've neglected you for the last few days." She whispered to her pet, "I'm so sorry."

While Crookshanks was eating the fish, Hermione took a long bath. After bathing for an hour, Hermione started making her homework.   
As usual, the weekend was over too soon. Hermione was glad that she had finished all her homework on Saturday, that way she could spend Sunday with her Gryffindor friends. 

On Monday they had Care of Magical creatures. Harry, Hermione and Ron were curious what Hagrid would do with his daughter while he teaches.   
But they didn't have the courage to ask him, even if they were Gryffindors.

"Today I have something special for you." Hagrid began his class. Hermione smiled at him but she feared that he was going to show them some horrible beast.

"Now, all of you just follow me." He said. Hagrid started to walk towards the Forbidden forest.   
Harry started to walk next to Hagrid "We are not going into the forest are we?" Harry whispered.   
"Of course not, just moving a bit closer to the forest." Hagrid answered.

The group of students were lead towards that was just a few foot away from the Forbidden forest. In the high grass there were six trees.   
Hagrid had hung up some sort of blue ribbon, which made it impossible to reach the trees.   
"Just stay on this side of the ribbon if you don't want to get lost in the forest" Hagrid told the students.   
The students didn't even dare to cross the ribbon after this warning.   
"Now, does anyone of you know what Forest fairies are?" He asked.

Hermione was the only one to raise her hand.   
"According to legend Forest fairies live in trees. They have been known to help those who are in need of help.   
Since the year 1574 Forest fairies have been extinct." She said confident.

"Very good, 10 points for Gryffindor." Hagrid said, smiling. "There's only one thing wrong, they are not extinct." He continued.

"Now, be very quiet, they are extremely shy and don't cross the line." He gestured to the blue ribbon. The students were as quiet as possible.   
Suddenly something moved behind one of the trees.

About five minutes later they could see someone staring back at them. The someone was hiding behind the large tree, showing only her head.   
The head disappeared behind the tree again. A minute later she showed her head again, but this time she didn't disappear behind the tree again.   
After looking at the students for a few seconds she showed herself.

Hermione gasped, there was a Forest fairy standing in front of them. The fairy had long blonde hair, which she wore in two long braids, which reached 'till the ground.

She was wearing a light green dress that looked like it was made out of silk. On her back there were two big purple wings.   
Her eyes were twice as big as normal, and they had the same purple color as her wings.

The students were staring at her with there mouths wide open. Hagrid stepped forward and the Forest fairy hid behind a tree again.   
"Now I want you to form groups of four people. Each group will stay here and watch while the other waits over there.   
You will make notes and, if it's possible, try to make a drawing of Ninfa."

The groups were formed and Harry, Hermione and Ron were teamed up with Neville. 

"Do you think that he found her in the Forbidden forest?" Neville asked Hermione, while they were walking towards the ribbon.   
"I don't know." Hermione answered "According to every book that I have read they are extinct."

As quiet as possible, the four Gryffindors were standing in front of the ribbon. Harry was going to make the drawing while Hermione was taking notes about Ninfa's behavior.

This time it didn't take long before the fairy showed herself again. At first she moved closer to the ribbon, this gave Harry a good change to make a decent drawing.   
Then, she started to fly back towards the try. While she was flying the purple wings weren't visible at all.   
For a few minutes she sat in the tree, her green dress made it almost impossible to notice her. She decided to return to the ground and landed just a few inches away from the ribbon, looking at the four students. Harry had stopped drawing because he was afraid that the sound of him drawing might scare Ninfa away.   
Hermione had also stopped writing down her notes. Ron and Neville were just standing as still as possible.   
The fairy stood in front of Neville, studying his face.   
Neville tried his best not to move. Suddenly Ninfa gave him a hug and flew back into the tree.  

Even Hagrid was amazed by what Ninfa had done. "Wow, I've never seen a Forest fairy touch a human before." He exclaimed.   
Hermione had written it down as soon as possible.

Neville gulped "Why did she do that?" He asked nervously.   
Hagrid started to laugh "I think that you've just made yourself a friend."

The other students were also amazed what had happened. In the other groups Ninfa had just moved closer to the ribbon, but she hadn't hugged any of the other students.

That night, Hermione had detention again. To her surprise, there weren't any cauldrons in the classroom.   
This was a bit odd, considering that it was a potions-classroom. Hermione looked closer.   
She noticed that all the desks were gone, even Snape's desk had vanished.   
"Uhm…professor? What happened to the cauldrons?" Hermione asked Snape.   
"You don't have to clean any cauldrons tonight, Miss Granger." He told her, "Tonight you are going to clean the floor. Without magic."

Hermione took a close look at the floor and wondered when the last time had been that it was cleaned.   
There was no way that she could clean the entire floor all by herself. Snape saw the expression on her face.   
"Don't worry, Miss Granger. You're not the only student who has detention tonight." He spat at her. 

Hermione sighed in relief. A few minutes later Damien walked in.   
"Hello." He said with a smile on his face. "How are you doing Hermione?"

"Silence!" Snape yelled. "This is not a tea party. You are here to serve detention. There will be no talking."   
After Snape had instructed Damien what to do, the Head boy and Head girl started to clean the floor. 

Around eleven o'clock the room was almost cleaned. Snape let Damien go back to his dorm earlier then Hermione.   
The Head girl had to put the desks back to their places, also without magic, which took almost an hour.   
"You can return to your dorm now." Snape said as soon as Hermione had finished.  
 "Miss Granger, has the portrait in front of your dorm been empty since Friday?" Snape asked just when Hermione was about to leave the classroom.   
"No, sir." She replied quickly, hoping that Snape would believe her.   
The truth was that Victoria, the girl in the portrait, had been gone most of the time that Hermione wanted to enter her dorm.   
"10 points from Gryffindor, for lying to a professor." Snape said. The Head girl wondered how he could tell that she was lying.   
"How many times has she been gone?" Snape wanted to know.   
"Almost every time I returned to my dorm." Hermione answered honestly. She silently wished that she had remembered the spell that Snape had used to summon her back to the portrait.

"Miss Granger, follow me." Snape suddenly said. Hermione walked back to her dorm with the potions master.

They had almost reached Hermione's dorm when there was someone walking towards them. It was Damien.   
The smile on his face faded when he saw that Hermione wasn't alone.   
"Mr. Daniels, 50 points from Ravenclaw." Snape spat at him "I don't believe that you have Head boy duties tonight."   
Damien stared at the floor "Yes sir." He said before leaving towards his own dorm. Hermione wondered what he was doing near her dorm at a time like that.   
She also wondered why Snape didn't give him detention.

Hermione and Snape arrived at the Head girl's dorm, but Victoria wasn't in her portrait. Snape reached into his pocket, he got out a small golden pocket watch.   
"Uhm…what do we do now, professor?" Hermione asked insecure.   
"Now we wait." Snape told her. 

Precisely ten minuteserHH= later Snape got his wand out and muttered "Regresar" while he tapped on the empty frame.   
Victoria appeared two seconds later. Her eyes widened when she saw the potions master standing in front of her.   
"Miss Granger, you can go inside. Tomorrow your detention will begin immediately after dinner." Snape told Hermione softly.   
She nodded and gave the password. After the portrait had closed she staid on the ivory stairs, so she could hear what Snape had to say to Victoria.

"What did I tell you about the rules?" Snape hissed at Victoria. There was a long silence, Hermione could hear the young girl sobbing.  
"What did I tell you about them? Snape asked again.   
"That I'm not allowed to leave my frame longer then ten minutes." Victoria replied.   
"Exactly!" Snape spat at her. "And you were gone for more then ten minutes, weren't you?"   
Victoria sobbed again.   
"If this happens one more time, I'm going to erase your painting!" Snape yelled before started to walk away.

**Thanks everybody for the reviews.**

**I've changed my style of writing the dialogs, so thanks for noticing it to me.**


	6. Chapter six

**Disclaimer:**    
**_Once again, I'm not J.K. Rowling and the characters do not belong to me.  
I'm not making money etc. etc. you get the picture._**

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**_~CHAPTER SIX~_**

The rest of the week Victoria didn't leave her portrait. Although Hermione had apologized to her, she was still mad.

On Saturday the first quidditch match was held. Ravenclaw against Gryffindor.   
Hermione walked towards the quidditch field, her bag of books with her, when she ran into Hagrid.   
"Hi Hagrid, how's Barbie?" She asked him.   
"Oh she's great, she loves it here." He told her, he started to tell Hermione about the things Barbie had been doing.   
"Are you coming to watch the quidditch match?" Hermione asked to change the subject.   
"No, I can't. Barbie is asleep and she needs to eat when she wakes up." Hagrid said, he looked a bit disappointed that he couldn't see the match.   
"Would you like me to baby-sit for you?" Hermione offered.   
"Are you sure?" Hagrid asked.   
Hermione nodded, she hated quidditch and this way she had an excuse for not showing up.   
And while Barbie was asleep, she could do some homework.

Hagrid instructed Hermione about how to take care of Barbie. From what she should eat 'till the books that needed to be read to her.   
Ten minutes after Hagrid had left, Barbie woke up. Her eyes widened when she saw Hermione.   
"Hi Barbie, I'm Hermione. Remember me?" Hermione said, a bit insecure about how Barbie would react to her.   
The girl stared at Hermione for a few minutes, then she smiled.   
"Hermy!" Barbie said, still smiling.   
The Head girl tried not to groan, she hated that nickname.

The first thing that Hermione did was feed Barbie. It took Hermione half an hour to feed her.   
In the end Barbie had eaten half of the food, the rest was all over Hermione.   
"Thank God I'm a witch," Hermione muttered.   
With a quick "Evanesco" her robes were clean again. Hermione found it a bit weird, feeding a girl that looked just as old as her. 

After she got dressed, Barbie insisted on going to play outside. Once they were outside, it took Hermione all her strength to convince the girl that it wasn't a good idea to play in the Forbidden forest. Somehow Hermione got the feeling that Barbie had been there before. She was glad to see Hagrid returning, babysitting wasn't as easy as she had thought.   
"Hi Hermione, how did it go?" Hagrid wanted to know when he had returned.   
"Great," She replied "Who won the match?"   
Hagrid started to laugh "Gryffindor of course! I've heard there's a party in the Gryffindor common room." 

Hermione laughed, there was always a party in the Gryffindor common room after they had won.   
It was usually an excuse to drink a lot of butter beer. Even she didn't know how they got it.

After the party Hermione returned back to her own dorm. When she arrived there Victoria wasn't in the portrait. Hermione got out her wand. Now, what was that spell that Snape used again? It didn't take her long to remember "Regresuur" she muttered while she tapped on the empty frame. But Victoria didn't return. Maybe Hermione had used the wrong spell, what was it again? She decided to try again "Regreseur" 

BANG 

There was a large explosion instead. Hermione was blown back towards the wall. Instead of summoning Victoria, she had blown up the frame.

Professor McGonagall ran towards Hermione. "Miss Granger, what happened?" She asked sharply.   
Hermione, who was still confused by what had happened, started to cough, she could hardly breath.  
 "Perhaps we should get you to Madam Pomfrey." McGonagall said concerned. She helped the Head girl up and escorted her to the hospital wing.

When Hermione and McGonagall finally arrived at the hospital wing she still had trouble breathing normally.   
"Dear, what happened?" She asked concerned.   
Hermione couldn't answer, she was still trying to breathe normally. Madam Pomfrey looked at professor McGonagall who shook her head.   
"Here take these." The Medi-witch handed Hermione two little blue balls. "Now I want you to swallow them in one piece."  
 Hermione nodded and swallowed the pills.   
"It will still take a while before you can breathe normally. Just sit down for a few minutes."

McGonagall immediately asked what had happened.   
"Professor Snape used a spell….." Hermione started.   
Before she had finished her sentence, the professor had walked out of the hospital wing. A few minutes later McGonagall returned with Snape. Hermione was still trying to control her breathing.   
"See what you've done!" McGonagall exclaimed, pointing at Hermione.   
Snape crossed his arms, he didn't say a word.   
"Well," McGonagall continued, "What do you have to say for yourself?"   
Snape looked at his colleague, narrowing his eyes "What makes you think that I did this?" He asked her.

"She said that you used a spell." McGonagall snapped at him.   
He turned towards Hermione "Did I?" he asked her.   
Hermione, who still couldn't breathe normal, shook her head.

The moment she tried to speak Madam Pomfrey came to check on her. "You shouldn't talk!" She said strictly, she turned towards the two professors "Professors, Miss Granger needs to rest. If she tries to talk it will take her forever to breathe normal again."

Fifteen minutes later, Hermione could breathe normal again. She had to convince Madam Pomfrey that everything was fine, before she could leave.   
When she left, professor McGonagall and professor Snape were waiting for her.   
"Ah, Miss Granger, please explain your accusations towards me." Snape told her. "Professor McGonagall is under the impression that I hexed you."

Hermione gulped, "I was trying to explain how I had learned the spell that I used, but before I could finish my story professor McGonagall had already left." She explained.

Snape shot his colleague a nasty look.   
"So what did happen, Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked her, trying to ignore Snape.   
"The portrait in front of my dorm was empty. I've seen professor Snape summoning Victoria, that's the girl in the painting, a few times. But when I tried it myself the frame blew up." Hermione told her professors.   
McGonagall looked confused, "There's a spell for that?" she wondered out loud.   
"What spell did you use, miss Granger?" Snape asked sharply.   
"The Regreseur-spell that I've seen you use." Hermione told him, she still didn't know what had happened.

"You stupid girl!" He spat at her, "The spell that I used was the REGRESAR-spell. The Regreseur-spell is used to destroy portraits."

Hermione gasped, "I destroyed Victoria?" she asked, her voice trembling.   
Snape rolled his eyes. "No." He softly said "You destroyed her painting, but if she HAD been in her frame, you would have destroyed her." 

"Severus, can you please explain what spells you have been using?" McGonagall asked the potions master. She didn't look happy at all.   
"Just a spell to summon Miss Grangers painting." He answered casually.   
"I see." McGonagall said slowly. She turned towards Hermione, telling her that she was able to return to her dorm again.

"Severus, I want a word with you. In private." McGonagall hissed at Snape, when Hermione had walked away.

A nervous Hermione reached Victoria's portrait. Victoria was standing with her arms crossed, an angry look on her face.   
"Hi Victoria, how are you doing?" Hermione asked carefully, she had no idea how the girl was going to react.   
"Password?" Victoria asked her.   
"Listen, I'm really sorry, I had no idea…." Hermione started, she was interrupted by Victoria   
"Password?"

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Dentist." She said. The portrait swung open and the Head girl entered her dorm.

The next day the whole school knew that Hermione had tried to blow up Victoria's portrait. Other portraits were staring at her and whispering to each other as she walked by them. And Peeves had made a little song which he called '_Hermione Granger the portrait danger_'

She was glad it was Sunday, at least she could spend the entire day in the library. In the seven years that she had been at Hogwarts, she never saw a student in the library on Sunday. With the exception of the Sunday before the exams began.

It was dinner time. When Hermione entered the great hall every student was looking at her. The Head girl didn't understand this. So she had gotten a spell wrong, what was the big deal? She didn't even destroy the portrait, just the frame. It's not like she did it on purpose.

Miserably she sat down next to Ginny.   
"Hey 'Moine, how's it going?" Ginny asked her friend.   
"I had better days." Hermione said. She started to eat her potatoes.   
"So what happened exactly?" Ron, who was sitting next to his sister, asked. Every student at the Gryffindor table looked at her, waiting for her to answer.   
"I don't want to talk about it." Hermione snapped. She took one bite out of her steak and left the great hall. When she arrived at her dorm, Victoria was still standing with her arms crossed.   
"Password?" She spat at Hermione.   
"Dentist." Hermione spat back at her. 

As fast as she could, she ran up the stairs. She fell down on the red couch, Crookshanks greeted her. "Hi Crooky." Hermione greeted her familiar sadly. 

The Head girl felt tired, she went to her bedroom. And fell asleep on her bed, with her clothes still on. 

The following day, when her classes were done, Hermione went to the library. She sat down and started to read. Suddenly she heard a voice behind her.   
"Hey Mudblood, blew up any more paintings?"

Hermione turned around, Draco Malfoy was standing behind her.   
"What do you want, Malfoy?" She snapped at him.   
He smirked at her "I just wondered." He said casually.   
"Where you are? It's a LIBRARY." The Head girl replied.   
"I wondered where a stupid mudblood, like you, learned a dark spell." Malfoy told her, ignoring her comment.   
"Well I guess I'm not as stupid as you think." She told him.

Hermione turned back to her book, hoping that Malfoy would leave. "I'll figure it out, just wait." He hissed at her before he left the library. 

When her detention was finally over, Snape walked with Hermione to her dorm. Professor Dumbledore forced him to apologize to Victoria.   
Victoria was still afraid of him. "Password please." She asked a bit more friendly then usual.

Hermione gave the password and walked inside. Although she was curious how Snape would apologize to a painting, she walked upstairs.   
The only thing that she wanted to do now was to go to sleep. 

Hermione's eyes widened when she saw the common room. It was a mess. There were books and quills everywhere, her bag had been emptied.   
Suddenly she heard something in her bedroom. As fast as possible Hermione ran out her dorm, screaming. 

Knocking professor Snape over as she stormed out.

"Miss Granger, what is the meaning of this?" Snape asked furiously. Hermione, who fell on top of her professor, got up as soon as possible.   
"There's someone in my bedroom!" She squealed. Snape got up and stormed into the Head girl's dorm. Ten minutes later, Snape returned. He was holding poor Crookshanks by his tail.   
"I guess you were right, there was someone in your bedroom." He said softly.   
"Don't hold him like that!" Hermione exclaimed. Snape dropped the cat, which landed on its feet, and crossed his arms.   
"There was someone in my dorm. There are books and quills lying around everywhere." Hermione told her professor, after she had picked up her familiar.

The potions master turned towards Victoria. "Did you let someone else in today?" He asked her.   
The young girl was thinking for a while. "Yes, I did. It was a boy." She finally said.

"Why?" Snape asked her calm.   
"He knew the password." Victoria said casually.

Hermione thought about who could possibly knew her password. Even Harry and Ron didn't know it.   
"What did he look like?" Hermione wanted to know. If she had a description of the boy, maybe she could figure out who he was.

"All I can remember is that he had blonde hair." Victoria told her.


	7. Chapter seven

**_~CHAPTER SEVEN~_**

Hermione's mouth fell open. Malfoy did tell her that he was going to find out where she had learned the spell, but she didn't think that he would search her room. How did he know the password? 

"Miss Granger, did you give the password to anybody?" Snape wanted to know. 

Hermione shook her head. "Even Ron and Harry don't know the password," she told him.

"Do you know anybody who would search for something in your room?" Snape asked.   
She wasn't sure whether she should tell him about Malfoy. 

"Well…" she hesitated.

"Who?" Snape hissed at her. 

"Draco Malfoy wanted to know where I learned the Regreseur spell.   
When I didn't tell him, he told me that he was going to figure it out himself," Hermione answered.

Snape just nodded and told her to change her password immediately. 

"So what's your new password?" Victoria asked, sounding a bit friendlier then before.

"Uh…" Hermione had to think for a while; she wasn't very creative when it came to making up passwords. "Gryffindor," she finally said. 

"Typical," Snape muttered as he walked away.

When she went inside her dorm and walked up the stairs again together with Crookshanks, she felt odd.   
The thought that someone had been in her dorm, made her feel a bit paranoid. She opened the door to her common room, put her cat down, and ran down the stairs again. Crookshanks didn't seem to mind it though, and he walked into the room as if nothing had happened.

"What are you doing out?" Victoria wanted to know, when she saw the Head Girl stepping out of the portrait again. 

"I…just…wanted to talk to you," Hermione said quickly, "to see if you're still mad at me."

"Of course I'm still mad, you tried to destroy me!" Victoria snapped at her. 

"I didn't mean to, honestly. I just wanted to summon you but I used the wrong spell," After Hermione explained what had happened, the young girl wasn't mad anymore. Instead of going back in though, Hermione kept on talking with Victoria.

After a while Victoria's eyes suddenly narrowed. "I think there is someone coming," she whispered. 

"Miss Granger, what are you doing here?" a familiar voice asked.

Hermione turned around. "Professor Harper," she said in surprise. "I was just apologizing to Victoria for what happened." 

The professor nodded slowly. "I see," she said slowly, "Do you know that you have been apologizing to her for almost two hours now?"

Hermione gulped, she had no idea that she had been standing there for so long; she was still afraid to go inside. "I'm sorry, I lost track of the time," Hermione said.

Harper nodded again, "It's ok, just go inside now." The Head Girl hesitated before she gave Victoria her password. The portrait opened and slowly Hermione walked inside. When it closed she sat down on the stairs, still afraid of going inside her dorm. A few hours later she finally fell asleep.

"Miss Granger, what are you doing here?" 

Hermione opened her eyes. Her back was aching. She rubbed her eyes. It took her a while before she realized that she had fallen asleep on the stairs.

"I asked you a question,"   
Hermione looked up. Professor Snape was standing in front of her. 

"Professor!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I believe I just asked you the same question," he told her. 

"This is my dormitory," she answered confused. 

"No, these are the stairs to your dormitory," he hissed at her. 

"I feel asleep," Hermione said quickly. 

"On your stairs?" Snape asked sharply. 

The Head Girl nodded. "What are you doing here?" she suddenly asked. 

"You missed my class," he said calmly. 

"But I have potions immediately after lunch," Hermione muttered. She looked at her watch.   
Why is it three o'clock she wondered, and why is Snape in my dorm?

"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter informed me that you were absent the entire day," Snape told her when he saw Hermione looking at him. 

Hermione shook her head.  She couldn't believe that she had slept for so long. Suddenly she jumped up. "How did you get in here?" she asked sharply. 

Snape rolled his eyes. "You changed your password yesterday after someone got into your dorm. I was standing next to you at that time," he explained.    
"Miss Granger, have you been in your dorm since yesterday?" Snape suddenly asked her. His question startled Hermione. 

"I…uhm…" she started. 

"I'll take that as a no," Snape interrupted her. Hermione looked down, she felt incredibly stupid.   
"Come with me," Snape ordered. A confused Head Girl followed him.

Silently, she followed the Potions Master to Dumbledore's office. 

"Miss Granger, Severus," The Headmaster greeted them. "What can I do for you?"

"Someone was in Miss Granger's dormitory yesterday, without her permission," Snape told Dumbledore.

 Dumbledore looked at Hermione. "Is this true, Miss Granger?" he wanted to know. She nodded.   
"Do you know who it was?" Dumbledore asked Snape. 

"The only thing we know that it's a blonde boy," Snape replied. "It's not Malfoy."   
Hermione got confused, it wasn't? And how did Snape know that? 

Dumbledore sighed. "Severus, did you use Veritaserum on the boy?" he asked sharply. 

"Yes," Snape answered casually. "The reason why I brought Miss Granger here is that she is afraid to go back in her dormitory.   
Last night she slept on the stairs," he continued. 

Hermione closed her eyes. Did he really have to tell the Headmaster about this? It was bad enough that he found her on asleep on the stairs. 

"Severus, would you leave me and Miss Granger alone for a minute?" Dumbledore asked. Snape nodded and left the room.   
"Miss Granger, would you like to tell me what happened yesterday?" Professor Dumbledore asked her gently. 

Hermione opened her eyes. "Well when I walked into my dorm I saw that someone had trashed it.   
My bag was emptied and there were books all over the place," she told the Headmaster. "I heard a noise in my bedroom, but it turned out to be my cat."

"How did you know that it was a blonde boy?" Dumbledore asked. 

"The girl in the portrait told me. He also knew the password," she answered. 

Dumbledore nodded, "Did you give anyone the password?" 

Hermione shook her head, "Not even Ron or Harry knows it." 

"I understand," Dumbledore said after a while. There was a long silence. "Perhaps it would be best if we gave you another room.   
One where you feel comfortable enough to sleep in your bed instead of on your stairs," Dumbledore finally said. 

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said, glad that she didn't have to sleep in her old dorm.   
Professor Dumbledore walked towards the fireplace and rang a small golden bell. 

Two minutes later a house elf appeared at his side. 

"How can I help you, Professor Dumbledore, sir?" The house elf asked. 

"Ripney, please escort Miss Granger towards the first spare dormitory, you know which one I'm talking about," Dumbledore told the house elf. 

Ripney bowed. "Yes, Professor Dumbledore, sir," he said. 

"Miss Granger, Ripney will lead you towards your new dormitory. You'll find that your possessions have already been moved there," Dumbledore explained.

She nodded. "Thank you, Professor," she said.

Ripney took her to her new dormitory. It was located near the dungeons. There was a portrait of a bride and groom guarding the entrance. 

"Here is your new room, Miss," Ripney told her. The house elf bowed and left. 

"Oh look Jonathan, we have a new guest," the bride said to her groom. 

"I see that Maria," Jonathan spat at her. "What's your password?" he asked Hermione.

"Gryffindor," Hermione told them. She thought it would be a lot easier to remember her old password. 

Maria and Jonathan both snorted when they heard her password. "Well it's your choice."

 The portrait opened and Hermione walked up the ivory stairs, which were just like the ones in her old dorm.   
She could hear Maria telling Jonathan that Hermione was the girl that tried to destroy Victoria's portrait. She opened the door and looked into her common room. Suddenly she understood why the couple had snorted when they heard her password. The room was decorated completely in Slytherin colors.   
Apart from that, the rooms were exactly the same. The couch was green, instead of red; instead of golden, the doors were silver.   
When she walked into her bedroom she saw that all of her possessions, including Crookshanks, were already there.

That night, after dinner, she hurried to detention. It was dark in the dungeons. She knocked on the door of the classroom, waiting for a reply.   
After a few minutes of waiting she knocked again. Still no reply. She knocked for the third time. 

"Professor!" she said loudly. When she still didn't hear him reply, she tried to open the door. It was locked.   
Hermione got out her wand, ready to open the door herself by using Alohamora. She pointed her wand at the doorknob but changed her mind.   
"Maybe I shouldn't do this," she muttered to herself. 

"Indeed you shouldn't," a voice behind her said. 

Hermione jumped and turned around quickly. "Professor, you startled me!" she exclaimed. 

Professor Harper smiled. "Sorry about that. I just wanted to warn you that Professor Snape is on his way before you opened his classroom using magic," she said.

Hermione sighed in relief. "Thank you, Professor," she said gratefully. The last thing she wanted was to get caught by Snape, no doubt that would get her more detention.

"I heard what happened in your room. Are you alright?" Harper asked. 

"Yes I'm fine, thank you," Hermione said.

Professor Snape walked towards them. He opened the classroom without saying a word. Hermione followed him inside, and immediately walked over to the cauldrons that were piled up in a corner. Silently, she started to clean them. It didn't take her long to finish. 

Hermione looked at her watch, it was only 7.30. Her Head Girl duties didn't start until 10.30. She wondered what she had to do next.   
Slowly, she walked towards the desk where her teacher was grading papers. 

"Sorry Professor, I'm finished cleaning the cauldrons. What do you want me to do next?" she asked. 

He thought for a while. "I've got a few assignments from the first years. If you could correct them for me…" he finally said.

Hermione smiled, "Certainly." She sat down; Snape handed her a quill and a bottle of red ink. She didn't mind correcting papers at all.   
The papers were about the uses of Asphodel root. In one of them a student was convinced that the Asphodel root was a little carrot that was used to liquidate bunnies. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at this answer.

"Miss Granger, please explain what is so funny," Professor Snape spat at her. 

"I'm sorry, it's just that one of your students thinks that Asphodel root is used to liquidate bunnies," she said, trying hard not to laugh. 

Snape rolled his eyes. "Stupid dunderhead," he muttered as he looked at the parchment. Hermione continued grading the papers, and soon she was done.

"Sir, I'm done grading the papers," Hermione said as she put the graded papers back on his desk.   
She glanced at her watch; it was 8.30; two more hours till her duties.

Snape thought for a while, clearly he had run out of ideas. "Just wait here for a minute," he said after a while, walking into his office.

When he returned he had a little white book with him. 

"You'll write an essay about this spell," he drawled, showing her a page in the book. After giving her parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink, Hermione started to work on her essay.

Much to her surprise, Hermione found out that she had to write an essay about the Regreseur spell.   
It was used to erase paintings, and had been a 'forgotten' spell, which meant that most witches and wizards had never even heard of it.   
While she was writing, she glanced at her watch.  She was determined to keep writing until her duties started.

A few minutes before 10.30, she finished it. After she handed in her essay, Snape tapped on the parchment, muttering, "Aniquilado," and the parchment destroyed itself.

It was an easy night for Hermione. It was almost 1.30 and she hadn't caught a student out of bed. She was walking back from the Astronomy Tower to her dorm, when she heard someone. As quiet as possible she walked towards the noise. For a moment she wondered if it was Snape walking; it wouldn't be the first time she would mistake a teacher for a student. 

"Lumos," she muttered. She pointed her wand at the person. It was the Head Boy, Damien. He stopped walking immediately when he saw Hermione.   
"Damien, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked. 

"I was just looking for you. I wanted to ask you something," he said casually. 

"What?" Hermione asked confused. If he wanted to ask her something, why do it in the middle of the night?   
She watched him as he brushed his hand through his hair. His blonde hair…


	8. Chapter eight

**_~CHAPTER EIGHT~_**

****

Hermione screamed as she accidentally dropped her wand on the floor.   
"Hermione, are you alright?" Damien asked her. "Here let me help you." He said.   
Damien got down on the floor, like Hermione, to search for her wand. Luckily, it didn't take Hermione long to find it.   
"Get away from me!" She shouted at him.   
"What? Hermione I…." The Head boy started as he walked towards her.   
"I said get away from me!" Hermione shouted again, pointing her wand at her. Her hands were trembling, she was now totally panicking.   
"Miss Granger, what's going on here?" A voice behind her asked. Hermione turned around to see professor Snape standing behind her.   
"I…..I…I..." She started.   
"What are YOU doing here?" Snape asked Damien.   
"I was just…" he started.

"50 points from Ravenclaw and a week detention with Filch." Snape spat at him. Without saying a word Damien returned to his dormitory.

Snape looked at Hermione; she was now sitting on the floor with her head buried in her hands.   
"Miss Granger, stand up." He ordered Hermione. She didn't hear him. He had to ask her four times before she finally could hear him.   
Slowly she got up, still shaking and covering her eyes with her hands. "Are you alright, Miss Granger?" He asked carefully.

When he didn't get a reply after the third time he asked her, he guided her towards the potions classroom.   
It was obvious that he didn't know what to do in a situation like this.

Hermione sat down, realizing what had happened. She just made a complete fool out of herself. She started to cry uncontrollably.   
Now Snape didn't knew what to do at all. It wasn't the first time that a student was crying in his classroom, but usually it was because he had been a complete git. He left the room, leaving a crying Hermione behind.

A few minutes later he returned with professor Harper.   
"Harper, can you take care of that for me?" He asked her in a cold voice.   
Professor Harper immediately walked over to Hermione and started to comfort her.   
Ten minutes later Hermione had stopped crying, her eyes were red and puffy.   
"I'm sorry." Was the first thing she said when she realized what had happened.   
"It's ok. Are you alright?" Harper asked gently. Hermione nodded, she quickly glanced at Snape, afraid of his reaction.   
He was standing with his hands crossed looking angry.   
"What happened?" Professor Harper asked carefully, afraid that Hermione might start crying again.   
"I….He…" She started, but soon she stopped.

Surely she couldn't tell two of her teacher that she panicked because she saw a boy who happened to have blonde hair.   
"Nothing, sorry." She said quickly. "I'll just go back to my dormitory now."

Hermione stood up "Miss Granger, I still want a word with you." Snape said calm.

"Can't you do that another time?" Professor Harper hissed at him.   
"No, I would like a word with Miss Granger. In private." He snapped at his colleague. 

Harper opened her mouth to speak but changed her mind. Without talking she left the classroom.

"Miss Ganger, sit down." Snape told her as soon as Harper had left. Hermione sat down carefully, bracing herself for what was about to come.   
"I'm going to ask you one time." He started, "What happened?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "I….I…..I…" She was lost for words.   
"I'm waiting." He hissed at her after a long silence.   
"He told me that he had been looking for me because he wanted to ask me something. And then I noticed that he had blonde hair." Hermione finally said.   
"I know that I overreacted and I'm sorry." She added quickly, staring at the floor.   
"Is there any way that Mr. Daniels could know your password?" Snape asked.

"No, he couldn't." Hermione said. "I just overreacted and I'm sorry. It won't happen again."   
Snape nodded and told her to leave. Hermione was glad when she finally was in her new bedroom, with Crookshanks next to her.

The week flew by. By the end of the week all of the students had forgotten about the incident with the painting. Hermione had also apologized to Damien.   
She explained that she had been under a lot of stress lately and he believed her story. He also promised not to mention what had happened to the other students, this was something Hermione was grateful for. The only one who still was insulting Hermione, was Malfoy. But over the years, Hermione got used to his threats.

On Monday Hermione had Care of magical creatures again. She was curious what kind of creature Hagrid had for them today. People were still talking about Ninfa, mostly about the fact that she gave Neville a hug. But unfortunately, they had to observe the behavior of the noran.   
The noran was a creature that was round and had a green color. At first sight they looked like a green ball of fur, but when Hermione, Harry and Ron approached the noran they found out that it had very sharp teeth.

Hermione looked forward to Tuesday; they had Defense against the dark arts again. She had already missed one lesson; the Head girl just hoped that she hadn't missed too much information. Although Harry and Ron assured her that she didn't, she would rather hear it from professor Harper. 

The professor entered the classroom with a big wooden box. All the students were curious what was in it.   
"Now, I want you all to pay attention to what I'm about to explain before I set it loose." Harper warned the students.

She started to explain that there was an orgrato in the box. It was creature that lived in dark places, such as castles.   
The students panicked a little, Hogwarts was a castle too.   
"What does it do?" Neville asked carefully.   
"Orgrato's feed on babies and very young children." Harper explained. The students gasped.   
"You don't have to be worried. Here at Hogwarts there are no Orgrato's, except this one right here." The professor gestured at the box.

"When it's set loose it's probably going to try to protect itself. I must warn you that his teeth are very sharp."   
Before the creature was let out of his box, the students learned a special stunning spell that made the orgrato loose his consciousness for about an hour.

"Use it quickly and don't hesitate to use it. They are very fast, so I suggest that you don't wait to long." Was the final warning that the professor gave her students.

Professor Harper opened the box. There was a small ugly creature inside. The orgrato was almost the size of a house elf.   
It was brown and furry. His fur was dirty and there was an unpleasant odor coming from the little creature. 

The orgrato looked around; when he saw all the students he tried to attack Dean Thomas.

Dean wasn't fast enough to stun the orgrato. The brown creature jumped towards Dean's arm and sunk its teeth in it.

"He bit me!" Dean exclaimed. Professor Harper quickly stunned the orgrato and locked it in his box, while Dean sat down at his desk.   
His arm started to bleed heavily. After just a few seconds his desk was covered with blood.   
"Mr. Potter, take Mr. Thomas to Madam Pomfrey as quickly as you can." Professor Harper ordered.   
Harry and Dean both left the classroom, leaving a trail of blood behind.

Hermione suddenly noticed the odd look on the professor's face. Harper was staring at the desk covered in blood.   
Maybe she's one of those people who can't stand to look at blood, Hermione thought.   
"Is everyone else ok?" Their professor asked faintly. 

The students nodded carefully. "You may go now." She said quickly. All of the students, except Hermione, left the classroom as quickly as possible.

"Professor Harper, are you alright?" She asked worriedly.   
Harper nodded, rubbing her eyes. "Yes, yes, I'm fine." She told the Head girl, looking paler then ever.   
"I just have to uhm…..cleaned the desk." She continued, gesturing at Dean's desk that was still covered with blood.   
The professor tried not to look at it. "Let me help." Hermione offered, and with a quick _Evanesco_ the blood was gone.   
"Thank you, Miss Granger." The professor said relieved. "10 points to Gryffindor for your help."  
  


When Hermione left the office she headed for the library to start her homework.

She opened her bag and searched for her D.A.D.A. book. But it wasn't there. The Gryffindor groaned, she had left it on her desk back in the classroom. 

Hermione rushed back towards the dungeons. She knocked on the classroom door. No answer.   
"Professor?" She asked. But there was still no answer.

She probably won't mind it if I take my book back, Hermione thought. Slowly, she opened the door. She could see her book lying on the desk.   
When she had taken it something caught her attention. There was something on the floor. It was blue and it looked like some kind of fabric.   
When Hermione walked towards it, she saw that it were robes. Professor Harper was lying unconscious on the floor.

Hermione tried to wake the professor. Suddenly she noticed that her teacher wasn't breathing. Hermione felt her pulse. There was none.   
Hermione jumped up, realizing she should get help. As fast as she could she ran out of the classroom. Running right into the potions room.   
Professor Snape, who was teaching a class of first years, looked furious when Hermione stormed into the room.   
"Miss Granger, what are you doing here?" He spat at her.   
"It's Professor Harper. She's unconscious and…and..." She said as fast as she could.   
"The first one to move or speak will have detention until Christmas." Snape barked at the students, interrupting Hermione.   
He raced towards the other classroom, Hermione followed him.   
"There's no pulse." Hermione told him just before they entered the room.   
"Miss Granger, get Dumbledore immediately." The potions master ordered her once he checked Harpers state. 

As fast as her legs could go, Hermione ran towards Dumbledore's office. 

She ran into the Headmaster in one of the many hallways.  
"Miss Granger, what's the problem?" Dumbledore asked when he saw Hermione's face.   
She explained what happened and he followed her towards the dungeons. 

"Miss Granger, would you please keep an eye on professor Snape's class?" the Headmaster asked her before he entered the classroom.   
"Yes, sir." Hermione said and she walked over to room where the first years were still sitting in their seats, afraid to move.

The students looked suspiciously at Hermione. Hermione, who wasn't sure what she should do with the class, walked to the front of the class.   
"So what kind of potion are you making today?" Hermione asked them.   
"An anti-wrinkle potion." Said one of the girls that were sitting in front of the class.   
Hermione could see that they wore Hufflepuf and Ravenclaw robes, and was grateful that it wasn't a class of Slytherins.

"Do you like it here at Hogwarts?" She asked her eyes fixed on the door, hoping to see something.   
The students nodded, still afraid that Snape actually would give them detention until Christmas, Hermione didn't blame them.

Suddenly she heard a bell ring. That meant that they had to perform the next step in order to complete the potion.   
"What was the last thing you did before you had to wait?" Hermione asked the students.   
"We had to add the eagle quills." A boy in the back said.   
"Ok, that means that you have to stir the potion for five minutes, clockwise." Hermione said, who remembered the potion.   
"Then you have to add the newt's toes."

While the students followed her 'orders', Hermione kept glancing at the door.   
The student had added the newt's toes when professor Snape walked in, clutching his arm.   
"Miss Granger, a word please." He said in his usual cold voice. She followed him outside.

"Professor Harper has recovered, thanks to your quick reaction." Snape said to her.   
"Therefore, Professor Dumbledore has ordered me to reward 50 points to Gryffindor." He continued with a look of disgust on his face.   
Hermione was relieved to hear that professor Harper was fine.   
"I will see you after dinner for detention." Snape said before opening the door to the classroom.   
"And one more thing, you are not allowed to mention this incident to any of the other students.   
Not even to Potter or Weasley." He hissed at her, soft enough so that the first years couldn't hear him. Hermione nodded and left the dungeons.


	9. Chapter nine

**I'm so happy that I can finally update my story!   
  
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine_  
  
~CHAPTER NINE~_**

****

Just before dinner Hermione returned to her dormitory with a large pile of library books, to finally do some homework.   
On her way she saw Professor Snape in the hallway.

"Good afternoon Professor," she greeted him. Snape didn't respond and continued walking.

Wondering why he ignored her, Hermione walked up the ivory stairs to her rooms.   
She expected to be greeted by Crookshanks, but her cat wasn't in the common room.   
After putting the books on the desk, she started to search her rooms for him.   
She found Crookshanks in her bedroom, sitting on her bed, hissing at something. 

"What is it? Do you see a spider again?" she asked with a wide grin on her face. 

The last time her pet had been hissing like that was because of a little spider on the wall.   
This time though there was no spider, there was nothing on the wall at all.   
It is probably just nothing, Hermione thought as she walked back towards the common room.   
Suddenly she saw something moving from the corner of her eye, and it wasn't Crookshanks.   
As quickly as possible she turned around.   
She caught a glimpse of a person who was wearing a dark brown cloak with a hood that covered his or her face.   
Suddenly the person threw some sort of ball at her.   
Before she could wonder why someone would come into her dorm and throw a ball at her, Hermione caught it instinctively.   
It was only then, as her vision started to blur, that she realized that it wasn't a ball, but a portkey.

As soon as her vision became clear again, Hermione looked around. She was in some sort of forest.   
Maybe it's the Forbidden Forest, Hermione thought. 

Suddenly she heard someone behind her yell, "Stupefy!" 

Everything around the Head Girl became black.   
When she came to, her vision was blurry and she found that someone had chained her to a tree,

"It looks like the filthy mudblood finally woke up," someone sneered. 

"What?" Hermione asked confused "What's going on?" 

She could hear a few people laugh, but could not figure out how many. 

"We are going to have a little fun," one of them said. 

Finally Hermione's vision cleared and she could see who the person was. It was Draco Malfoy together with Goyle. 

What were they doing here? It was a well-known fact that Malfoy was scared to go anywhere near the Forbidden Forest.   
Where was Crabbe? This was the first time that Hermione saw Goyle without Crabbe.   
Then she remembered that there had been someone in her dorm.   
It was probably him she thought.

Hermione didn't speak but searched for her wand, hoping that the two boys wouldn't notice. 

"Are you looking for this?" Malfoy asked her, smiling evilly. He held out her wand. 

"Let me go!" she shouted as loud as possible, hoping that someone would hear her. 

After screaming for help a few times, she saw that the two Slytherins were laughing at her. 

"No one can hear you out here, mudblood," Malfoy said. 

Malfoy took something out of his pocket. It was long and shiny, but Hermione couldn't see what it was. 

"You hold her arms," Malfoy instructed Goyle. 

Goyle held Hermione's arms behind her back against the old oak tree that she was chained to.   
The grass, still wet from the rain that had fallen that same morning, made the earth around the tree muddy and hard to stand on.   
Hermione's feet kept slipping. Malfoy stood a few feet away from them, on the solid grass. 

"Now we are going to play a little game," Malfoy said with a big smile. "I'll ask you a question and you are going to answer it." 

Hermione gulped, she didn't like the sound of Malfoy's little 'game'. 

"And what if I don't know the answer?" she asked carefully. Goyle started to laugh.

 "You'll see what happens then," Malfoy replied.

"Now first question: Where did you hide the book? We couldn't find it in your old room, so where did you hide it?" 

What on earth was he talking about she thought.

"Book, what book?" she asked. 

"Don't act like you don't know what I mean," Malfoy hissed at her. 

"I'm not acting. I really don't know what you're talking about!" Hermione exclaimed, panicked.

With a couple of steps Malfoy was standing right in front of Hermione.   
She could now see what the long and shiny object had been.   
It was a dagger. Malfoy nodded at Goyle who tightened his grip on her arm.   
Hermione screamed at the top of her lungs as Malfoy made a large cut from her shoulder to her elbow.

"That's what happens when you don't know the answer," Goyle whispered in her ear, still holding her arms that were now covered in blood. 

"Now I'm going to ask you again and you will answer like a good little mudblood," Malfoy barked at her. "Where is that white book?"

"I really don't know what you're talking about. I don't have a white book," Hermione told them. 

"Wrong answer, mudblood," Malfoy spat as he made another cut, this time in her right arm. 

Several questions, and cuts, later Hermione saw something move behind Malfoy.   
Maybe there was somebody there who could help her she thought hopefully.   
She started to scream for help again.

 "Can't you make her shut up?" Goyle asked his friend. 

"Just leave her here," Malfoy answered smirking at Hermione who by now was covered in mud and blood. 

"Look, now she really is a mudblood," Goyle said with a big smile. 

The two Slytherins walked away, laughing. Hermione looked up just in time to see Malfoy throwing her wand in the bushes.

Just after they had left, something moved in a nearby tree.   
Hermione sat up and immediately started to struggle against her chains, afraid that there was some kind of horrible beast behind the tree.   
She called for help again. Two bright purple eyes looked through the leaves at her. Hermione knew those eyes, she had seen them before.   
Suddenly she realized what she had seen behind Malfoy. It was Ninfa. 

Ninfa flew towards the Head Girl as fast as she could. She tried to break Hermione's chains, but it didn't work.   
When she saw all the blood, Ninfa's eyes widened in fear. She took a few steps back and flew away. 

"No! Come back!" Hermione yelled, but after a few seconds the Forest Fairy was out of sight. 

Hermione felt her hope dwindle and she sat back, with tears in her eyes. 

Ten minutes later she heard someone talking.

 "I…I don't think this is a good idea," a familiar voice said. "Where are you taking me?"   
"Help," a bright voice said. "Come."

"Come where?" the familiar voice asked. 

Hermione shot up. "Help! Help me!" she yelled. 

She could hear footsteps coming her way. 

Ninfa had returned with Neville Longbottom. She gestured at Hermione. 

"Help," she said again in a bright voice. 

Neville ran towards Hermione and released her from her chains. Hermione was glad that they had learned that spell during their DA training.   
Ninfa was hiding in the bushes again, or so they thought.

A few seconds later she returned with Hermione's wand. 

"What happened?" Neville asked worriedly. 

"Malfoy," Hermione said. 

With the help of Neville and Ninfa, she was able to walk out of the forest towards Hogwarts.   
It was still hard to stand on her legs after being chained to the tree for so long. 

"How did you find me?" Hermione asked Neville. 

"I was collecting some herbs for Professor Sprout, near the Forbidden Forest when Ninfa came towards me telling me that she needed help," he explained. 

Ninfa smiled when she heard her name.

 "Help," she said with a smile. Hermione got the feeling that that was one of the few words she could say. 

Dinner had already started when Hermione, Neville and Ninfa walked into the Great Hall together. Hermione's arms were covered in dried blood.   
Ninfa nervously walked next to Hermione, her big purple eyes looked at the large amount of students.   
It was obvious that she wasn't used to being in the presence of that many people. 

There was a long silence before all the students began to whisper. Hermione looked at the head table, and saw the shocked expressions of the professors.   
Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout were whispering to each other while they looked at Hermione.   
Professor Snape however, was the only one who continued eating his dinner as if nothing had happened.   
Hermione wondered why he acted like nothing had happened and what he was going to say when he would find out that two Slytherins were responsible for this.   
Then she wondered why she cared so much about what Snape thought. Professor Dumbledore stood up and walked towards them. 

"You three follow me," he instructed them briefly. 

Dumbledore led them to the hospital wing. A few minutes later Madam Pomfrey had healed the cuts on Hermione's arms.  
The cuts didn't even leave a scar. 

"Now I want to ask the three of you a few questions in my office," Dumbledore said.

When they had arrived there Dumbledore immediately asked what had happened.   
It took a while before Hermione finished telling him the entire story, from the mysterious person in her dormitory to Neville rescuing her. 

"So what you are saying is that Mister Malfoy did this to you," Dumbledore asked. Hermione nodded. 

"Are you willing to take Veritaserum to confirm that?" Dumbledore asked sharply. 

"Yes," Hermione answered. 

Dumbledore nodded and rang a small golden bell that Hermione had never seen before. Dobby appeared next to Dumbledore. 

"Dobby, would you please summon Professor Snape for me. Ask him if he is able to bring a bottle of Veritaserum," he told the house elf. 

"Yes professor Dumbledore sir," Dobby said and left the office without making a sound.

"Mr. Longbottom, may I ask you how you found Hermione?" Dumbledore asked Neville.

Neville's face started to turn red. 

"Well I was collecting some herbs for Professor Sprout, near the Forbidden Forest, and suddenly Ninfa ran up to me.   
She told me that she needed help, so I followed her," he told the Headmaster. 

"She spoke to you?" Dumbledore asked amazed. 

"Yes," Neville said, a bit scared at Dumbledore's amazed expression.

"Can you speak English?" Dumbledore asked Ninfa. 

Ninfa smiled at the Headmaster at hearing her own name, but didn't talk. She started to play with her long braids as she looked around the office. 

"She doesn't say much," Neville told the Headmaster. 

For a few moments Ninfa stared at the little window in Dumbledore's office. She stood up, walked towards the window and looked out.   
The Headmaster and the two Gryffindors watched her behavior in silence. The Forest Fairy turned around, waved, and leapt out of the window.

The office door opened and Professor Snape arrived, followed by Dobby. Neville suddenly got nervous. 

"Ah, Professor Snape. Did you bring the Veritaserum?" Dumbledore asked the Potions Master. 

Snape got a small vial out of his robes, which he put on the Headmaster's desk. 

"What's Longbottom doing here?" Snape asked sharply. 

Neville gulped and shifted in his chair. 

"Mr. Longbottom helped Miss Granger," Dumbledore explained. "A Forest Fairy talked to him; she just flew out of the window." 

Snape snorted at this.

"If you say so Headmaster," he said sarcastically.

"Miss Granger, would you please drink the Veritaserum?" Dumbledore asked her. 

Hermione nodded and drank the potion. Dumbledore started to question her about what had happened. 

"You were attacked by Draco Malfoy and Gregory Goyle?" Dumbledore finally asked again. 

"Yes," Hermione said. 

Dumbledore and Snape exchanged glances.

"Impossible," Snape told Dumbledore. 

Hermione turned her head towards the head of Slytherin. 

"But I took Veritaserum," she said in her defense. 

When he didn't respond to her, Hermione looked back at Dumbledore for support. 

"I'm afraid that Professor Snape is right, Miss Granger," he told her, "both of them have been in the infirmary since lunch."

  
  
_Thank you all for the reviews, I never knew people actually liked this story!  
I'll try to update as soon as possible :-)_

_~Tikina~ _


	10. Chapter ten

**DISCLAIMER:**** It's mine!!! all mine!!! In my dreams!  
  
**__

****

**_~CHAPTER TEN~_**

"What?" Hermione exclaimed. 

  
"Both Draco Malfoy and Gregory Goyle have been in the infirmary since lunch," Dumbledore repeated. 

  
"Polyjuice," Neville muttered softly. 

  
"It seems that Mr. Longbottom has answered his first correct Potions question," Snape said in a cold voice. 

Neville turned red.   
  


"But who could it have been then?" Hermione wondered out loud. "Why did they keep asking me about a book?"

"What book?" Snape immediately asked her.

   
"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Hermione snapped at him.   
  


"10 points from Gryffindor for your attitude," Snape said calmly. 

  
Hermione looked at Dumbledore for support, but he looked at the professor. Suddenly he turned to Neville.

 "Mr. Longbottom, you may go back to Gryffindor Tower. You are not to talk to anybody about what has happened, do you understand?"   
  


Neville nodded, "Yes, Professor Dumbledore." 

He stood up and walked towards the door.   
  


"Oh and Mr. Longbottom," Dumbledore said just before Neville left, "50 points to Gryffindor for helping a fellow student in need." 

  
After he had thanked Dumbledore, Neville, whose face had turned even redder, left the office.

"Miss Granger, what book were they questioning you about?" Dumbledore asked.

  
"I don't know.  They said something about a white book, but I don't know what they were talking about," Hermione said softly.   
  


Suddenly she remembered something.

"They said that they couldn't find it in my old room," she added quickly.   
  


"Headmaster, I think that it's best that, due to recent events, we choose another Head Girl," Snape suddenly said.   
  


Hermione jumped up. 

"You can't do that!" Hermione said, her voice trembling. "What happened did not affect my Head Girl duties," she told Professor Dumbledore. 

  
The Veritaserum had probably stopped working because she knew that what she had said was a lie. She had freaked out when she saw that Damien had blonde hair, like so many boys at Hogwarts.

"Now Severus, I don't think that it's necessary to replace Miss Granger." Dumbledore said calmly.   
  


Hermione sighed in relief.   
  


"However, I'm afraid that we will have to move you to another dormitory again."

Ten minutes later Hermione sat in her new dormitory. It looked exactly the same as the previous two, only this time it was in the Hufflepuff house colours. Crookshanks was already asleep on Hermione's bed. He didn't seem to mind the fact that he had been moved twice. Nothing else had changed though, Hermione's detention that evening wasn't cancelled, neither were her Head Girl duties. Dumbledore had offered her a break from them, but Hermione told him that she would be fine. Besides, she had to show Snape that he was wrong. 

Right after dinner she had detention. The cauldrons were already piled up in the corner. There were more then usual, and she knew that there was no way that she could finish cleaning all of them before her Head Girl duties started.   
This matter was sorted out however when Professor Snape told her that they would be patrolling the halls a little later then usual. Silently, Hermione started to clean the cauldrons, without magic of course.

It was eleven o'clock when the Head Girl had finished cleaning the last cauldron. She was just about to leave when the door to the classroom opened. Professor Harper walked in the room, obviously not expecting that Snape would still be there.

   
"Can't you knock?" Snape spat at her. 

  
"I didn't think that you would be here," Harper said casually.   
  


"Then why bother coming here at all?" Snape sneered.   
  


"I just wanted to borrow some ingredients, that's all," his colleague confessed.

"No," Snape said.

   
"Excuse me?" Professor Harper asked confused.   
  


"I will not allow you to 'borrow' any of my ingredients," Snape said in a cold voice.

Harper shrugged. 

"Fine by me," she said, and after saying goodnight, she left the classroom. 

  
"Miss Granger, why don't you begin patrolling?" Snape told Hermione. 

  
As she left the dungeons she saw Professor Snape locking the door to the Potions room with a spell that she had never heard before.

That night Hermione caught two fourth year Slytherins in the Astronomy tower. Just to be sure that they wouldn't stay in the halls, she walked them to the Slytherin's portrait 

On her way back, she heard a noise coming out of the dungeons. Without hesitating she walked towards them, the hall was empty. Just when Hermione had decided to turn back she heard a noise coming out of the Potions classroom.

_Didn't Snape lock that room?_ As silently as possible she tried to open the door. It was unlocked so she stepped inside the room. 

  
On Snape's desk was a little black bag that Hermione had seen before; it was

Professor Harper's bag. _She must have lifted the wards_ Hermione thought.  She went to the door, wanting to leave the classroom, but the door wouldn't open.   
  


Hermione had just tried to open the door with _Alohomora_, when Professor Harper came out of Snape's office carrying a few ingredients. 

  
"What are you doing here?" Harper asked the Head Girl

Hermione watched as Harper stuffed the ingredients in her bag. She started to explain that she heard a noise coming from the room, and that she thought it was students. Her teacher walked towards the door, but also couldn't open it. 

"Did you lock it?" she wanted to know.   
  


Hermione shook her head. 

"I couldn't open it myself, not even with _Alohomora_," she said quickly.

Professor Harper tried several spells, but the door wouldn't open. 

  
"I don't believe this. Why won't it open?" Elizabeth Harper muttered to herself.

   
"Professor, was the door locked when you came here?" Hermione asked.   
  


Professor Harper shook her head. 

"No, why?"   
  


"Because Professor Snape put a spell on the door before he left," Hermione explained. 

  
"Bugger," Professor Harper cursed as she sat down in one of the chairs. "I guess we have no other choice but to wait until he returns," she told Hermione.

They waited until Snape returned; it seemed to take hours.  When he entered the room he seemed almost happy. 

"May I ask what you two are doing here?" he began, an evil smile on his face.

"I heard someone in your office while I was patrolling, so I went to take a look." Hermione said as fast as she could.

Her professor ignored her. Snape just looked at Harper. Harper grabbed her bag, walked towards the door, and tried to open it again.

"Did you put the _Encierro_ spell on the door?" Harper asked when the door still wouldn't open.   
  


"Indeed," was Snape's reply, "I knew your kind couldn't be trusted."

   
Harper walked back to the desk and sat down again. Snape turned towards Hermione. 

"Granger, go to your dormitory."

Relieved that she could go, she left as soon as he had removed the wards.

The following weeks went by pretty fast, Hermione was getting used to her routine of school, detention and Head Girl duties. One day in October, Hagrid asked Harry, Ron and Hermione, if they would babysit Barbie. He didn't tell them where he was going though.  Hermione didn't really want to baby-sit, but it had been a while since she could do something with her two best friends, so she agreed. 

  
Outside, while Harry and Barbie were playing with Fang, Ron and Hermione sat in the grass. As usual, Ron was complaining about his homework.

"I just don't understand why they give us so much homework," he complained. "I simply don't have enough time to do it all."

Hermione started to get upset. Every conversation they had was either about quidditch, how much homework Ron had or quidditch, and Hermione didn't want to talk about homework or quidditch. 

"You know, you would have more time to do your homework if you didn't play quidditch all the time!" she snapped at him.

Ron looked offended. 

"It's not like I want to," he told Hermione. 

She found this hard to believe. 

"Harry keeps pushing me to practice more."   
  


Now that was something she did believe. 

They sat in silence for a while until Harry and Barbie came their way. Barbie was obviously getting tired; she was just sitting, and picking a few flowers that were hidden in the high grass.

"So do you still have detention with Snape next week?" Harry asked Hermione.

She sighed, "Wednesday will be my last day, thank Merlin."

"Good," said Ron, "then you will have enough time to help me with my homework."

"Don't forget those extra quidditch practices," Harry warned him.

And the subject was back to quidditch. Hermione didn't mind it when Barbie wanted to play again; she gladly followed the girl.   
  


Hermione threw a big ball and Barbie and Fang both ran after it. Barbie loved this game and Hermione didn't mind it, as all she had to do was to wait for Barbie, or Fang, to return with the ball and then throw it again.

But at one point it took too long before Barbie returned. Hermione started to get worried. Afraid that the girl had wandered off into the Forbidden Forest, Hermione walked towards it, calling Barbie's name.

"Do I need to remind you that it is forbidden for all students to go into the forest?" 

Hermione jumped, turned around, and found herself looking at Professor Snape.

"No, I was just babysitting," she explained.

"You're not doing a good job then, are you?" Snape told her. "Are you babysitting first years now? How Gryffindor of you."

"I'm babysitting Hagrid's daughter," Hermione answered.

Snape was clearly surprised by her answer. 

"Hagrid has a daughter?"

Hermione nodded.

"I'm sure he'll be happy to find out that you've lost his daughter," he replied before walking away.

   
Hermione was relieved that he didn't give her another detention; it was a bit odd actually.

"HERMIONE, WHERE ARE YOU???"

Harry had been searching for her. 

"What are you doing here?" he wanted to know.

Hermione explained that she had been looking for Barbie. Apparently Barbie had grown tired of the game and had gone back to Ron and Harry without telling Hermione. She was now almost asleep, and the three friends were just talking about their classes.

"I think it's a bit strange that Harper is never present during dinner. I mean even Trelawney shows up for dinner every now and then," Harry said.

"She's a vampire," Ron said calmly.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. 

"You think Dumbledore would hire a vampire?" Harry wondered.

"Probably, he also hired a werewolf, remember?" Hermione reminded him. 

She turned to Ron. 

"How do you know that?"

"How can you not know it?" Ron exclaimed. "She never eats dinner, it's always dark in her classroom, and she's even paler then Snape. And did you see how she reacted when Dean got bitten by that Orgrato and started to bleed!" 

"You didn't tell anyone else did you?" Hermione asked him. 

"Of course not!" Ron assured her.   
  


Hermione knew that Ron was right, how could she have missed that? It was so clear to her now. She was the only one to know that Lupin had been a werewolf.   
Since when did Ron notice these sorts of things? It was like some sort of upside-down world. It was probably her busy schedule. It just had to be.

On Thursday, right after dinner, Hermione went down to the dungeons again.

She knocked on the door and, when she was ordered to enter, she walked into the room. Snape was sitting behind his desk, and looked up when Hermione shut the door behind her.

"What do you want, Miss Granger," he snapped at her.

"I'm here for my…" 

But suddenly Hermione remembered that she didn't have detention anymore. 

"I…I'm sorry…I thought I had a detention. I forgot that…"

"I see you have grown fond of detentions," he said as he slowly got up from his chair.  "Maybe you should serve a detention today, with Filch!" he hissed at her.

Damn, why did he have to make a big deal out of it? Why couldn't that man just be civilized just for once? Ha! Snape civilized, now there was a funny remark.

"Am I amusing you, Miss Granger?" Snape said suddenly, interrupting her thoughts.

"No sir," Hermione answered as fast as she could.

"Detentions seem to amuse you. Three weeks extra detention starting tomorrow!" he barked. "I must congratulate you, Miss Granger. I do believe that you are the first student to receive more than six weeks detention in a row."

"But I didn't do anything!" Hermione complained to her teacher.

She knew that he was unfair and favored his own house above the other ones, but this was insane, even for Snape.

"Four weeks extra detention!"

Without saying another word Hermione ran out of the dungeons.

_  
I'm planning to update the next Chapter next week, but I hope it will be a bit sooner.  
Thank you all so much for reading!  
  
* **Susan:** thanks for your review here and at whispers, I'm glad you like it.   
* **Melwasul:** you're right, polyjuice! Ok, so it wasn't that hard to find out.  
* _**Captain Crash:** _I don't think so._**  
*** **Doxeysocks:** _thanks for your compliment on the new characters! I'm flattered.  
And I think that his chapter answers your question._ _I mean come on, even Ron noticed!! *LOL*  
* _**Elven_Warrior1:**_ I'll try to update sooner this time, as soon as my beta mails it back to me I'll update._


	11. Chapter eleven

**_~CHAPTER ELEVEN~_**

Hermione went straight to Professor McGonagall's office. The Head of Gryffindor was surprised to see Hermione.   
When she asked if she could help her, Hermione began to explain about the detentions she had just been given.   
Professor McGonagall replied that, even though Professor Snape could be unfair sometimes, he had every right to give her detention for her actions.

Disappointed, Hermione went to her detention with Filch. She couldn't decide which was worse: detention with Filch or detention with Snape.   
Filch made her polish every trophy in the trophy room, the Muggle way of course.

The next day, she walked to the dungeons for detention as usual.   
She just hoped that she wouldn't get another week for running away from Snape the day before.

On the door hung a little note that instructed her to serve her detention with Professor Harper.   
Hermione didn't mind this at all, but she was a little nervous around Professor Harper after Ron told her that she was a vampire.   
Lupin had been a werewolf, and was completely harmless when there wasn't a full moon.  
 A vampire was dangerous at all times, something Hermione knew very well. Slowly she knocked on the door to Harper's office. 

"Come in."

It was dark, as always, and Professor Harper was sitting at her desk, grading papers. A glass of red wine stood in front of her. Only it wasn't wine, Hermione realized, it was probably blood. There were a thousand thoughts racing through her mind. What if Harper got hungry after she had finished her glass? Would she attack Hermione? But on the other hand, Hermione had been alone with her professor on more then one occasion and nothing had happened. After Hermione told herself that Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have hired her if Harper posed a serious threat to the students, she felt a bit more relieved.

"Are you alright?" Professor Harper asked before taking a sip from her glass.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks," Hermione said, her eyes fixed on the glass. "So, what do you want me to do for detention?"

"Uhm…" Harper had to think for a while. "Well, you could clean the room a bit," she finally said. "I guess that would be a punishment."

It was known to every student that their D.A.D.A. teacher hardly gave detentions, but when she did she made the students serve them with Filch.

Hermione looked around; the office was filled with dust. To her relief Professor Harper allowed her to use magic to do the cleaning.   
She wondered why Harper had never cleaned it herself; it wasn't exactly hard to do. 

It didn't take the Head Girl long to clean up the classroom and, before she knew it, she was sitting across her teacher, drinking tea.   
Harper still hadn't finished her glass of 'wine'. They talked about school, the upcoming quidditch matches that didn't really interest them both and detention. 

"I don't even know what people should do when they have detention with me," Harper told Hermione. "When I was at Hogwarts we just got detention with Filch. That's why I always make students serve detention with him instead of with me."

Hermione laughed at this and couldn't help but wonder how old Harper was.   
She couldn't be that old if Filch had been at Hogwarts when she attended. 

Harper finished her glass and Hermione got nervous again. This time Harper noticed. 

 "Is everything alright? You seem kind of nervous."

"Everything is fine," Hermione said a bit too fast.

Elizabeth Harper walked over to Hermione, whose nervousness increased as Harper came closer.   
When Harper noticed this, she sat back down in her chair.

"Miss Granger, what's wrong?" she asked in a cold voice.

"Nothing," Hermione said, trying to sound convincing. 

"I don't believe you," Harper replied. She crossed her arms and leaned back, waiting for an answer.

Hermione started to chew her lip, not sure if she should explain the reason why she was getting nervous. 

"Ron told me something the other day," she finally said after a while. "It's really stupid actually."

"What did he tell you?" Harper asked suspiciously.

"He says…thinks that you…that you're a vampire." There, she had said it.

"Did he tell anyone else?" her teacher wanted to know.

Hermione shook her head. "Just me and Harry."

"Good," Harper said softly, "I don't want the other students to be panicked by a rumor."

"You mean it's not true?" Hermione asked sharply.

Professor Harper started to laugh, "Of course not. Why on earth would Professor Dumbledore hire a vampire?"

The tone she used didn't completely convince Hermione.

"Well, we had a teacher once who was a werewolf," Hermione told her.

Harper waved her hand as she took another sip of her drink. 

"That's a big difference. A vampire in a school like this would be like a child in Honeydukes."

"But why are you teaching in the dungeons, instead of on the second floor?"

There was a long silence before her teacher answered.

"I'm sure that the Headmaster has his reasons for that," and with that their conversation came to an end. 

After two cups of tea Professor Harper decided that Hermione's detention had finished. 

"Would you please hand me that iron box?" Professor Harper asked the Head Girl who was standing by the office door, ready to leave.

Next to the door there was a large closet, which was open. On one of the shelves there was a square iron box.   
A second after Hermione walked over to the closet the office door opened.

"Ah, Professor Harper, I've got you a new supply of pig's blood." 

Argus Filch walked into the classroom with a large crate filled with bottles.

_Sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than usual. The next one will be longer._

**_Romm:_** _Uhm….did I miss something? How does she know it?_

**_Auditoriumnazi: _**_Sorry about the paragraphs, but my layout sometimes changes when I upload the file. Interesting name by the way!_

**_Elven Warrior1:_**_ Well……I'm not gonna spoil everything yet, but there will be a kiss in the next chapter. (finally!)_

**_Mirjam:_**_ Thanks….and you were lucky, you didn't have to wait long this time. :-)_


	12. Chapter twelve

**DISCLAIMER:**

_Every character, potion, creature etc. that you recognize from the books belong to JK Rowling._

_The other characters, potions, creatures etc. belong to me._

**  
Sorry that I didn't update sooner. I had a writers block. Finally that one is over, but I still have exams coming up, so I'm afraid that it will take a while before my next update! I want to thank everybody for reviewing my story, I love to get feedback. This chapter is the longest one so far, and I hope you like it. **

****

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**_CHAPTER TWELVE_**

"I'll just put them on your desk. Well, enjoy your meal," Filch said fearfully.   
He didn't see Hermione who was still standing in front of the closet.

"Yes, thank you Argus," Harper said quickly.

Filch hurried out of the classroom. Hermione could only stare at her teacher. True, she had had doubts when Harper told her that she wasn't a vampire, but now Hermione was convinced that she had lied.

"Miss Granger…Hermione, I can explain," her teacher began.

"Can you?" Hermione asked angrily.

As Professor Harper walked toward her, Hermione moved backwards, trying to distance herself from Harper.

"You don't understand."

Still retreating, Hermione covered her neck with her right hand; her left hand tried to reach for her wand.

"For Merlin's sake, I'm not going to bite you!" Harper snapped. "If I wanted to bite you, I would have done already done so."

Hermione's back was now against the wall. Her wand pointed towards her teacher. Slowly, Harper walked back to her desk, trying to calm Hermione down.

"Please try to understand," she started. "I couldn't tell a student, if everybody knew then…"

"Then what?" Hermione interrupted her. "Does Dumbledore know?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer. How could he not know about it?

"Of course he does," Harper answered. "All the teachers know, and I can tell you that not everyone was happy having a colleague who is a vampire."

"Can you blame them? I can understand they don't like to have a colleague that feels like a child in Honeydukes." Hermione told her.

"I do not drink human blood. Do you honestly believe that Dumbledore would have hired me if I did?" Harper explained. "Why else would Filch bring me pig's blood?"

Hermione didn't know what to do or say. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door and Professor Dumbledore entered the classroom.

"Miss Granger, please lower your wand," he said when he saw the Head Girl's wand was still pointed towards her teacher.

Slowly, Hermione lowered her wand.

"She knows," Harper said softly.

"Then it's time that we should talk," Dumbledore said, and they talked.

They talked for about an hour. Dumbledore explained about Harper's situation. Even though she drank only pig's blood, it was still difficult for the vampire to find a job. It reminded Hermione about Lupin's situation. She then apologized to Professor Harper for her reaction, but she still didn't feel comfortable in her professor's company.

The next day Hermione was having breakfast when the headmaster, when he announced that there would be a Christmas ball. Since most students went home during the holidays, Dumbledore had decided that the ball would be on the evening before their departure. Unsurprisingly, the whole school was ecstatic that there would be a ball. Harry would take Ginny, and Ron had asked Simone O'Connell, a Hufflepuff.

"So, who's your date for the ball?" Ginny asked Hermione at lunch a few days later.

"I don't have a date," the Head Girl replied.

Ginny immediately started to name all the boys who didn't have a date yet.

"You know what you should do?" Lavender interrupted Ginny. "You should start to sleek your hair everyday, like what you did for the Yule ball in our fourth year. Maybe then you could find a date."

"No thank you," Hermione said before leaving the table. She wasn't planning on spending hours just to tame her hair. She had done it once and vowed never to do it again.

"No wonder she doesn't have a boyfriend," she heard Lavender whisper to Parvati. Hermione decided to ignore the comment and left the Great Hall.

That afternoon Ron and Harry were practicing Quidditch, as usual. Hermione had promised them that she would come and watch them. She was amazed that Harry had reserved the Quidditch pitch, yet again, for the entire afternoon. It was something he did a lot; the other houses were not happy with it, especially Slytherin. The boys were concerned that she would spend the entire day inside the castle, reading. Now she was just reading outside. Every once in a while she would look up; that way she pretended to actually watch the boys practice.

"Hello Hermione," she heard someone say beside her.

She looked up and saw Damien standing next to her.

"Hello," she replied.

"Can I talk with you for a moment?" he asked her.

"Sure," Hermione answered and put down her book.

"So, are you excited about the Christmas Ball?" Damien asked her, a bit nervous.

"Not really," Hermione confessed, "I'm only going because I have to."

Since she was Head Girl, it was part of Hermione's duties to attend the ball.

"Me too," Damien told her. "That's why I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go with me." There was an uncomfortable silence. "Since we're Head Girl and Head Boy, I figured we could go together."

"Sure, sounds like fun," Hermione said. She didn't really want to go with Damien, but at least she had a date now.

It didn't take long before Hermione regretted her decision to go with Damien. Damien started to hound her everywhere, in the library, in the corridors. At first he reminded her of Viktor Krum, who had followed her because he wanted to ask her out. After a while though, he started to remind her more of some sort of stalker. She knew that he just wanted to become friends with her; the poor boy was just trying too hard. Hermione wished she could talk about it with Harry and Ron, but she was afraid that they would overreact. After Damien had asked her out, they had abandoned their Quidditch practice and asked her if he was bothering her. It was like having two older, overprotective brothers.

It was late one night when Hermione was walking back to her dorm. Snape had collected a lot of dirty cauldrons and it took Hermione until midnight to clean all of them. It was past curfew and she hoped that she didn't run into Professor McGonagall, who had to patrol the halls. Also, Hermione, especially didn't want to run into…

"Hermione, is that you?"

Damien Daniels. Damien also had to patrol the halls on Wednesdays.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked her.

Hermione explained to him what had happened in detention. Damien looked suspiciously at her.

"I'm not sure if I should believe you," he said.

"You could ask Professor Snape what happened," she told him, not really understanding why he didn't believe her.

"You sure have a lot of detentions with Professor Snape," Damien noticed.

"I know," Hermione said. "Look Damien, I'm really tired and…"

"I'm sure you are," Damien interrupted her, mockingly.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked confused.

Damien crossed his arms. "I mean to say that I think I have figured out how you've managed to become Hogwarts' best student."

Hermione couldn't believe her ears. "Are you implying that I do things like THAT in order to get a better grade?"

"Well I wouldn't be surprised if you did," Damien snapped at her.

"I don't know how you managed to pass your OWLS, but I studied for mine," Hermione said.

Without saying another word to the Head Boy Hermione continued on her way to her dorm. _Why was Damien acting like that? He seems like a jealous boyfriend,_ Hermione thought._ How dare he accuse me of something like that!_

Hermione spent Saturday entirely with Ron and Harry. Now that she had her own dorm she didn't see them as much as before, something she missed. The trio sat down outside and talked for a while.

"So, are you still going to the ball with Damien?" Harry wanted to know.

Hermione shrugged, "I think so."

"You think so?" Ron asked.

Hermione told her friends what had happened in the corridors. How Damien thought that she used her detentions with Snape to improve her grades, and that she had just walked away from him after she had denied his false accusations. That night was the last time that Hermione had spoken to him. Consequently, she wasn't exactly sure if they would still go to the ball together.

"What a git!" Ron exclaimed.

"We'll find someone else for you 'Mione," Harry told her. 

"You don't have to do that," Hermione said immediately, "I'm just going to that stupid ball because I have to."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked. "You can always come with me and Simone, and be my second date."

Hermione started to laugh, "Your second date? Ronald Weasley are you planning on starting your own harem?"

"I think he wants seven wives, one for every day of the week!" Harry chuckled.

The three friends joked about Ron and his seven wives for the rest of the day.

Hermione's good mood vanished on Sunday. Apparently, Damien had started to spread rumors about her. She had first noticed it when she was sitting in the library. Two Ravenclaws, a boy and a girl Hermione didn't know, were talking about her.

"Well I wasn't surprised to hear it. It does explain why Granger always has the highest grades," the girl said.

When the girl had mentioned her name, Hermione hid herself behind the large bookcases. The two Ravenclaws didn't see her but, unfortunately, Hermione couldn't see their faces.

"It sure does," said the boy, "and it gives a whole different meaning to the term 'Head' Girl."

The boy and girl started to laugh.

When Hermione was visiting the lavatory, also she heard two girls talking about her.

"So do you think it's true?" the first one asked.

"I've heard him say it myself," the second one said.

"Who? Snape?" the first one asked loudly.

"No, of course not!" the second girl exclaimed. "Damien, I overheard him talking to Melissa Beretta. He caught Granger when she was sneaking back to her room and…"

The girl's voice faded as she left the lavatory. Slowly, Hermione came out of the toilet. This was not good. This was not good at all.

On Monday it was difficult for Hermione to pay attention to her classes. She wondered if the rumor had spread any further. _Of course it did, _she thought,_ this is Hogwarts and news like that travels faster than you could say Quidditch._

However, nobody had mentioned it to her. She had expected a rude comment from Malfoy when she passed him in the hallway, but he just called her a Mudblood, as he always did.

During dinner she sat between Ron and Harry, not telling them about the two conversations she had overheard. While they were finishing their dessert Hermione saw a brown haired girl heading their way.

"Hi Simone," Ron greeted the girl.

"Hello," Simone said, "Ron, I was wondering if you want to help me study tonight."

Hermione snorted, Ron studying. Now that one was priceless.

"Sorry, we have an extra Quidditch practice. We've got a game in two weeks," Ron said.

In two weeks Gryffindor had a game against Slytherin and Harry was fanatic when it came to beating them.

"Aaah Harry!" Simone complained, "You're making him work too hard."

"Sorry Simone," Harry apologized, "but Quidditch is war. Especially when it's against Slytherin." He turned to Hermione. "Are you going to watch us practice?" he asked her.

"I can't. I have detention later," Hermione said.

Simone's eyes widened when Hermione told them about her detention.

"Aaah, too bad," she exclaimed. "I would have loved some company. Who gave you detention?"

When Ron said that Hermione's detention was with Snape, Simone's eyes widened even more. _So that's what's going on, _Hermione thought, _they are finding out if it's true._

During detention she had to scrub cauldrons, as usual. Hermione couldn't take her mind off what had happened. She didn't understand why Damien had started the rumor.

"Miss Granger, focus on your work. Surely you don't want your detention to last until midnight again, do you?" Snape barked at her.

Hermione tried to focus on cleaning the cauldrons. Just when she was scrubbing the last cauldrons, which smelled as if something had died in it, there was a knock on the door.

Professor Harper entered the room, a piece of parchment clutched in her hand and a large grin on her face.

"Hello Professor Snape," she said a bit too cheerfully.

"What do you want now?" he asked coldly.

"I just wanted to give you something because YOU are my favorite Potions Master," she said, still smiling.

He suspiciously read the piece of parchment that Harper had gave him. "No," he said.

"In case you haven't noticed, you don't have a choice," Harper chuckled.

Hermione wondered what was so funny, but she knew better than to ask. Instead, she focused all of her attention on the last cauldron, looking forward to the end of her detention.

Snape briskly walked out of the classroom, leaving the parchment on his desk. Harper followed him out and Hermione quickly walked over to Snape's desk to look at the parchment. It was from the headmaster. In the letter he gave Professor Harper permission to borrow certain potion ingredients from Snape. _So that's why he's so mad, _Hermione thought. Harper always took Snape's ingredients when he was away.

Soon Harper returned with the black bag she always carried. She began to fill it, humming to herself. Meanwhile, Hermione had finished the last cauldron. Carefully, she started to pile all of the cleaned cauldrons up. Professor Harper had just finished filling her black bag with ingredients when Snape came back from the Headmaster.

"Write them down," he barked at his colleague.

"Why?" she wanted to know.

"I want to know which ingredients you take," he said coldly, "just in case a student wants to make an illegal potion using my ingredients."

He looked at Hermione, who felt her face turning red. Harper started to write down a long list.

"Here you go," Harper said, still smiling.

Snape grabbed the list out of her hands and sat down at his desk, rubbing his eyes as Harper left the room. Hermione coughed a few times in order to get his attention.

"Yes?" he asked rudely.

"Sir, I've finished the cauldrons," Hermione answered.

"Why aren't those two piled up like the others?" Snape pointed at two cauldrons that were still standing in front of the large pile.  
"I couldn't reach the top," she explained. "I tried to get them up using a levitation spell, but that only caused the pile to fall down."

Professor Snape got up and added the two remaining cauldrons to the pile.

"10 points from Gryffindor for making a teacher do your work," he told her.

"But I couldn't…" Hermione began.

"Miss Granger, I'm sure you've heard of the existence of chairs," Snape interrupted her. "There is a large amount of chairs in this room and although they are mostly used to sit on, some people use them to stand on when something is out of their reach."

Hermione apologized to her teacher, feeling stupid for not thinking of that simple solution herself.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. A startled Hermione jumped forward, right in the arms of the Potions Master. He held her tightly and neither one of them made an effort to let go of the other person. Without waiting for an answer, the door of the classroom opened and the Head Boy walked in.

"Professor, I came to give you my essay," Damien said, looking suspiciously at the Hermione and Snape. He held up a large piece of parchment.

"Thank you, Mister Daniels," Snape said.

He quickly pushed Hermione away and walked to Damien, taking his essay. Silently he strode into his office.

"So, were you 'studying' for your grades again?" Damien spat at Hermione. "It's pathetic that you're shagging a teacher just to get a good grade."

"Don't be ridiculous," Hermione hissed, "I just fell forward when you knocked."

The look in Damien's eyes made it clear to Hermione that he didn't believe her.

"I would have thought that the smartest girl in school would be able to come up with a more believable excuse," he told her.

Professor Snape returned from his office, surprised to see that Damien hadn't left yet.

"Mister Daniels, you can return to your dormitory now," he told him.

"Yes sir," Damien answered. "I'm sure you two want to be alone," he muttered softly so that only Hermione could hear his words.

"Five points from Ravenclaw for talking to a student who has detention and another five points for entering a classroom without permission," Snape spat at him. 

Apparently Snape had heard what Damien had muttered. As soon as Damien had left the room he asked Hermione what it had meant. The Gryffindor opened her mouth to speak but changed her mind. Snape saw this.

"Miss Granger, what was Mister Daniels was talking about?" he demanded to know.

"I don't know sir," Hermione answered a bit too fast.

"You're a bad liar, Miss Granger," Snape simply said. "You are not leaving until I know what Mister Daniels was talking about."

"Damien caught me last week, when I was walking back to my dormitory," Hermione began after a short silence, "and he implied a few things."

"And what did he imply?" Snape asked.

Hermione started to blush.

"He…um…he implied that we were…" she began, "that we were…are having some sort of…relationship."

_Please don't make me explain what sort of relationship he means_ Hermione hoped.

"And what makes you think that Mister Daniels feels that way?" Snape asked calmly.

"He told me," Hermione said carefully. 

"What were his exact words?"

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "He told me that he found it pathetic that I shagged a teacher to get good grades." 

There, she had said it. The only thing she wanted to do now was go back to her room and die of embarrassment.

"And what, pray tell, have you done to make Mister Daniels believe that?" 

Hermione couldn't believe her ears. Why was he blaming her for Damien's lies? This was definitely the last straw.

"What?" She exclaimed, "I haven't done anything. The reason he thinks that is because YOU keep giving me detention!"

"Miss Granger, you have yourself to thank for your detentions, not me," he hissed at her.

"Trust me, I'm not thanking you at all," Hermione muttered before she headed to the door of the classroom.

Just after she opened the door a crack, Snape's hand slammed the door shut. Hermione turned around, gasping for breath.

"10 points from Gryffindor if you don't apologize immediately," he hissed at her, his face dangerously close to hers.

"10 points it is," she hissed back, moving her face even closer to his.

Unexpectedly their lips met in a demanding kiss. A million thoughts raced trough Hermione's mind. She was kissing a professor. And not just any professor, she was kissing Snape! And by Merlin, she liked it!

Slowly, she opened her mouth. Daring him with her tongue to do the same, she kept her eyes closed, afraid to open them. She was surprised and somewhat relieved to feel him respond by opening his mouth. He teased her tongue with his. Hermione didn't exactly know if she had kissed him or if he had kissed her, the only thing she knew was that she didn't want to stop.__

There was a sudden knock on the door. Startled, Hermione and Snape both jumped away from the door. Without waiting for an answer, the door flew open. An angry Professor Harper stormed into the room. Her good mood had obviously vanished.

"Snape, you'd better explain this to me!" she shouted gesturing at a vial that contained a dark green substance.

"You may go now," he told Hermione, without looking at her. As quickly as possible she left the dungeons. 

That night Hermione couldn't sleep. The events of that evening kept replaying in her mind. It was hard to stop thinking about what had happened. _What if it happens again? _ Hermione thought as she touched her lips. _What if it never happens again? _ It was especially her last thought that scared her.

**_A/N:_**

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**Ok, so I completely stole the drinking pigs blood from the tv-show Angel. I could have come up with something more canon like phoenixblood or something like that, but I had already put up the 11th chapter (in which the pigs blood is first mentioned) when I thought about it.**

**  
  
I stole the 'Quidditch is war' saying from my dad (a huge soccer/football fan). He always says that 'Football is war'. **

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**_- Auditoriumnazi: _**_Well, I hope this chapter has cleared things a bit.  
- **Elvenwarrior1:** Thank you!!!  
**- Romm:** Hmmm……it could be, I should re-read my fic. LOL, I don't even know what happened in my own story!  
**- Tabii:** Thank you, I hope that I can update sooner than last time._


	13. Chapter Thirteen part one

**DISCLAIMER: **

**Everybody knows that the HP-characters belong to JK Rowling, and not to me.  
****I'm not making any money writing this story.**

****

**_I want to thank everybody for reading and reviewing my story.  
_****_I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter!_**

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_CHAPTER THIRTEEN: part one_

The next morning Hermione couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. _Did I kiss him or did he kiss me? Do I have to apologize to him? Will he get me expelled?_ She was almost certain that she was going to be expelled when a little voice inside her head said, _didn't he kiss you back?_ She had forgotten all about that, he had kissed her back. Now she remained with the question of why he had kissed her back.

Hermione dreaded the coming of the afternoon, which made the morning pass by extremely fast. After lunch they had Potions. Professor Snape was in his usual foul mood. After the students had handed in their essays about the uses of flubberworms in potions, he began his lecture.

"Today you will be making Dorillamen, a sleeping potion that is quite easy to make." Snape stood behind Neville. "At least for most students," he continued.

Soon the students were setting up their workstations and gathering the ingredients that were required to make the sleeping potion. Hermione was setting up her cauldron next to Neville when Snape stood behind her and instructed her to follow him. He guided her towards the other end of the classroom, away from Neville, Harry and Ron. 

"Let's see if Mister Longbottom succeeds to brew his potion without the help of Miss Granger," Snape said.

Hermione had almost finished her Dorillamen potion; it had a white color. She looked at Neville. His potion still looked yellow instead of white, which meant that he was horribly behind the rest of the class. Horribly behind, but he hadn't messed it up, yet. Neville looked at her and mouthed 'help me' to her. Hermione quickly looked to make sure that Snape wasn't watching them. Then, when the coast was clear, she gestured to him which ingredients had to be added next.

Neville was about to add three lice hairs in his potion, instead of the two that were required. Hermione saw this and started to cough in order to get his attention. Quickly Neville looked up, and Hermione held up two fingers.

"Miss Granger," a voice behind her said, "I have told you repeatedly not to help Mr. Longbottom. Yet, after seven years, you are still helping him."

The whole class was watching now, wondering how many points he would deduct from Gryffindor. Harry and Ron wondered if she would get another detention for this, and for how long. Instead of speaking, Professor Snape strode to his desk and wrote something down. Dean Thomas, who was standing in the front of the classroom tried to look at the parchment but Snape had already put it in one of his desk drawers. He noticed that the Gryffindors were still watching him and ordered them to go back to work.

At the end of the class he handed Hermione the piece of parchment. It was her essay. Written on it was her grade. She had gotten a D, which stood for Dreadful. For the first time in her seven years at Hogwarts Hermione had gotten a D. Snape didn't even read her essay, after all the extra research she had done.

"I have given you enough warnings Miss Granger," Professor Snape said sleekly. "Every time you help Mr. Longbottom, you shall receive a D, starting today." He smirked when Hermione's eyes widened in shock.

Finally, after Potions ended, the Gryffindors had Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Harper looked paler then ever; her eyes were bloodshot. Instead of finding a seat in the front, Hermione sat down at the back of the class. Somehow she felt safer when there was a larger distance between her and her teacher.

It was hard for Hermione to focus on the lesson. Professor Harper was telling them about the Polrecho, a creature that looked somewhat like a deformed chicken.

"Why does she always show us magical creatures?" Parvati asked Lavender while Professor Harper was showing Ron how to hold his wand properly.

"You're right," Lavender answered. "She loves those things so much, she should marry Hagrid."

The two girls started to giggle causing Hermione to regret that she had decided to sit in the back. After two hours of hearing Lavender and Parvati giggle about boys, classes and the latest gossip, Hermione was pleased that she could leave the classroom. She was just about to walk out of the classroom when Neville approached her.

"Hermione, can I ask you something?" he asked her quietly.

"Of course you can," Hermione said.

Neville asked Hermione if she would help him with his Potions homework. She agreed and helped him with his essay until dinner started, all the while hoping that Professor Snape wouldn't find out. The last thing Hermione needed was another D in potions.

"I'm sorry Hermione," Neville suddenly said when they were discussing the uses of goat milk in painkilling potions.

"Sorry? For what?" Hermione asked confused.

"It's my fault that you got a D in potions today," he said.

"It's not your fault Neville," Hermione said softly. "You know how Snape is."

Neville nodded. "Maybe you shouldn't help me anymore in class," he decided.

Hermione didn't answer but just stared at his essay.

"So, who's taking you to the Christmas Ball?" he asked, in order to change the subject.

"Nobody," Hermione answered. "Are you taking Lavender?" she asked him automatically.

"Why are you asking me that?" Neville asked her sharply.

The Head Girl confessed that Professor Harper had told her that she had once caught Neville and Lavender in the Astronomy Tower. But, it turned out that Lavender and Neville were not going together. Parvati had set up a double date for her and Lavender, without asking her best friend first. They were going with two Hufflepuffs. Hermione could tell that Neville was a bit jealous, especially since he didn't know which Hufflepuffs they were. After talking about the ball a while, Neville and Hermione decided to go together. That way they both had a date. Hermione was relieved that she didn't have to go alone after the fight with Damien, and Neville was relieved that he didn't have to go without a date.

The evening came soon, and it was time for Hermione's detention. She walked to the dungeons at a slower speed then usual. Despite her lingering pace, it didn't take her long to arrive. Standing in front of Snape's classroom, Hermione found it hard to breath. She raised her hand and knocked on the door. Following Snape's barked command to enter, Hermione opened the door and went inside the classroom. Professor Snape behaved like he always did. He told her what to do and warned her not to use magic. For her detention, she had to scrub cauldrons as usual.

At the end of her detention Snape still hadn't mentioned their kiss and Hermione was grateful for that, but it also concerned her. _Did he expect her to make an apology?_

"Miss Granger, you can go now," Snape told her as she finished the last cauldron.

Long before curfew Hermione was back in her dormitory. She did her homework and, for the first time in months, she went to bed early. The following days, she was sent back to her dormitory early when she didn't have to patrol the halls. Hermione was getting used to that routine and almost forgot about the recent events.

This changed when Damien walked into the classroom one evening during one of her detentions. He handed Professor Snape an essay, which appeared to be his punishment for talking in class. Hermione was wondering why she couldn't have a punishment like that when she felt like she was being watched. She glanced around and saw Damien looking suspiciously at Snape and her. _Does he know what happened between Snape and me?_ she wondered. _Of course not, it's not like he was there!_

She wasn't the only one who noticed Damien's strange looks; Snape had noticed them too. He sent Damien back to his dorm and told Hermione to abandon her scrubbing and sit down. Nervously Hermione sat down across from the Potions Master, fidgeting with her hands. Snape was also looking nervous. He cleared his throat.

"Miss Granger, we need to talk about what happened a while ago."

Hermione nodded, her eyes scanning the room, avoiding Snape. _Well, this is it. I might as well just get it over with, _she thought taking a deep breath. Crossing her arms, she faced him.

"I apologize for kissing you," they said simultaneously.

It took a minute before Hermione realized what had happened. _He apologized to me? He thinks he kissed me first_ she thought. An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"Yes well, just get back to work then," Professor Snape said.

The Head Girl started to clean the cauldrons again. While she was scrubbing, Hermione started to think about what had just occurred. _Professor Snape thinks he kissed me. Does this mean that he actually wanted to kiss me? _The sponge she was holding slipped out of her hand, into the cauldron, but Hermione didn't notice. _Did he want to kiss her?_

"Is there a problem, Miss Granger?"

Hermione turned around to find the Potions Master standing behind her, keeping a relatively large distance between them.

With all the courage she possessed Hermione took a step forward, closed her eyes, and kissed her teacher again. _Well, at least this time we both know who started it,_ she thought. It took a few seconds before he returned the kiss. This time it wasn't a demanding kiss, but a gentle one, and, for a moment, they forgot the world around them.

"Severus, I would like to have a word with you," a familiar voice behind them said.

Hermione and Snape let go of each other and looked towards the door. Before them stood a smiling Albus Dumbledore his eyes twinkling.__

_  
The second part of this chapter will be uploaded next week!_

_  
_**Evenwarrior1  
**LOL, I'm sorry. I would have written more if I had the time.  
But now my exams are over, I have more time to write my fic.

**Auditoriumnazi  
**Oh come on….as if you didn't know it was going to happen **;-) **

**Nikita  
**Thanks……sorry for the cliffy.  
I guess I have a lot of cliffy's because I watch too many soaps LOL.

**Joey Eff  
**So, is that a sign that you like it or not????

**MetalPanic  
**I know what you mean with those stories.  
They kiss, confess their everlasting love to each other, get married and Hermione gets pregnant all in one chapter.  
Thanks for your comment about the thoughts and emotions, I'll try to remember it when I'm writing.

**Luthein  
**LOL, I know the Football is war is a term that a lot of people use.  
That's why it was so right to have a wizard say it about Quidditch.

**Tabii  
**Thanks, I hope you like this one as well.

**Amanda  
**Thank you so much.


	14. Chapter Thirteen part two

**DISCLAIMER: **

**Everybody knows that the HP-characters belong to JK Rowling, and not to me.**

**I'm not making any money writing this story.**

****

**_This is the second part of Chapter Thirteen, it's short I know.  
Thank you so much for your reviews, I couldn't believe how many I got!_**

****

**_I decided that I wouldn't let you guys wait any longer and post the ending of the chapter.  
I hope that you will like it, please let me know what you think of it!  
  
_**

****

_CHAPTER THIRTEEN: part two_

The smile on Dumbledore's face faded when he saw Hermione and Snape.

"This ends right now," he said in a cold voice that Hermione had never heard him use before. "Miss Granger, you will return to your dormitory this instant. The next time this happens you will receive an expulsion instead of a warning. Do you understand me?"

"Yes Headmaster." Hermione replied, afraid to look at the headmaster. She just hoped that Professor Snape wouldn't lose his job.

After the headmaster told her that her remaining detentions would be with another teacher, Hermione was free to go back to her dormitory. _It could be worse,_ she said to herself, _you could have been expelled._

It was after curfew. Hermione's homework was done but she couldn't focus on reading the updated version of _Hogwarts: A History_. Her mind kept wandering off to Dumbledore and his reaction. She would have never guessed that the headmaster, who was known for bending every possible rule in the book, would react like that to an innocent kiss. Out of frustration, she threw her pillow across the room. _It's all my fault,_ she thought, _I shouldn't have kissed him._

The following morning at breakfast, Snape wasn't present at the staff table. Hermione noticed this immediately. She feared that Dumbledore had fired him, and, for the first time in her seven years at Hogwarts, she was happy that she had Potions that day. Together with Neville, Ron and Harry, who were talking about the newest range of brooms, she walked to Potions. As they neared the dungeons they saw their other classmates waiting, as the door to the classroom appeared to be locked.

"What do we do now?" Neville asked the others.

"We should wait ten minutes. After that we have a free period," Hermione answered.

Ron and Harry grinned, "Great!" Ron exclaimed. "Let's hope that Snape doesn't show up!"

So the Gryffindors waited.

After eight minutes the door of the classroom opened. Disappointment showed on the student's faces, but they didn't dare to complain out loud. Disappointment changed to surprise when they saw who had opened the door. It wasn't Professor Snape.

An old wizard stood in the doorway. He had a short black beard and small brown eyes. The oversized dark blue robes that he wore couldn't hide the fact that he was extremely overweight. He invited the students in and told them all to sit down. Hermione found herself a seat in the front of the class, and was just about to put her cauldron on the table, acting like nothing was wrong, when the wizard began to speak.

"Students, I am Professor Price and I will be your new Potions instructor."

Hermione dropped her cauldron on the floor. Professor Snape was fired because of her!

**------------------------------------  
Amsev:  
**You really thought that that one was the worst cliffy?   
I wonder what you think of this one then.  
And I have to admit that I've never seen The Omen, so I didn't get Damien's name from it. 

**Elvenwarrior1:  
**Lol, Get him!!!

**Melwasul:  
**This chapter was ready when I posted the first part, that's why it didn't take so long this time.  
I don't know when the next chapter will be ready.

**Luthein:  
**Me too….and I know what's going to happen.  
Lol, I know, I'm a weirdo!  
  
**DemigiuseDoggy358:  
**Thanks, I feel honored that my fic is the first HG/SS fic that you're reviewing!  
Glad you like it.  
  
**Hippie1212:  
**Lol, you can hide under you're desk again :-p

**Larthawyn:  
**Hey, like your new nickname! It's good to hear that you like it.

**BillJoeBob2:  
**Thanks for putting me on your favorites list! :-)  
  
**Anarane Anwamane:  
**Thank you!

**PervyElf-Fancier:  
**Thanks. It doesn't matter that you're not helpful.  
I'm glad that you're letting me know that you like it.

**Angelcat221:  
**Thank you so much, I've been trying to keep the both of them in character.

**Avery-88:  
**Thanks….you didn't have to wait long for this update, but my next one will be a bit longer since my beta is on a well deserved vacation.

**Anonymous:  
**I'm pleased to hear that you like it!


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**DISCLAIMER:**

**Since I'm not JK Rowling, I don't own the HP-characters.**

**They all belong to her and not to me. That's why I'm not making any money writing this fic.**

**_First of all……I want to thank you all for the reviews, I couldn't believe how many I got.  
I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'm waiting for your responses._**

****

_CHAPTER FOURTEEN ****_

Staring at the bearded man in front of them, the whole class looked confused.

"What?" Hermione asked faintly.

"I will be Professor Snape's replacement," Professor Price said friendlily.

Swiftly, Hermione picked up her fallen cauldron. While Professor Price was telling them what potion they were going to make that day, the Gryffindors started to gossip.

"I thought this day would never come!" Ron exclaimed to a very confused looking Harry, who obviously didn't realize what had just happened.

Everybody wanted to know why Snape had left, and everybody had a different theory. No matter if he left had voluntarily or had gotten fired, they were all happy that he was gone. Unlike Snape, Professor Price was a patient man. He explained to Neville how to cut the spider legs eight times without losing his temper or taking points from Gryffindor. He even awarded twenty points to Gryffindor. The Gryffindors had _never_ earned points in Potions before.

When all of their classes for day were over, and as the students were eating their dinner, Ron and Harry were arguing about Quidditch.

"I don't care if it's raining or not, tonight we practice until nine o'clock," Harry told Ron. He was talking about quidditch practice of course. Ron muttered something back about meeting Simone that night but Hermione wasn't listening.

"Miss Granger, could I have a minute of your time?" a voice behind her said when she had just finished her desert.

Professor Harper stood behind her. It surprised Hermione that her professor was in the Great Hall; Harper rarely left the dungeons. In silence, the Head Girl followed her professor out of the Hall.

"The Headmaster assigned your detention tonight with me, but I think it would be better if you serve it with Mr. Filch," Harper told her uneasily.

Hermione nodded. "Thank you Professor," she said.

After being informed at what time Filch expected her, Hermione returned to the Great Hall. After seeing that most of the students had already finished their meals and since Ron and Harry were already off to the Quidditch Pitch, Hermione walked back to her rooms.

For her detention, Filch made Hermione polish the silver in the Trophy Room. After warning her not to use magic, he left, with Mrs. Norris following, to look for students who were breaking the rules.

Hermione had polished almost half of the trophies in the room when she heard a strange noise. She paused for a moment, but the noise was gone. _Must have been my imagination,_ she thought.

A few minutes later she heard it again, but this time it didn't stop. Hermione abandoned her cleaning and walked towards the door. Slowly, she opened it, hoping that Filch wouldn't catch her. Nobody was there. _I'm going paranoid, _she thought as she started to clean again, _if I go on like this I'll end up like Mad Eye Moody._

As she polished, Hermione's mind wandered off. She couldn't stop blaming herself for what had happened with Professor Snape. _Tomorrow I'm going to Professor Dumbledore and explain what happened,_ she decided. Then she heard the noise again. It sounded like footsteps. She also got the feeling that someone was standing behind her, but when she turned around nobody was there. She knew that feeling well though.

Suddenly Hermione started to laugh, "Very funny Harry, but you're not scaring me this easily."

She couldn't believe that Harry would try to trick her with his invisibility cloak again. It was his favorite hobby the past summer. He had tried to scare her and Ginny almost every day; but at the end of the summer it got pretty boring and Harry got tired of his game. _You would believe he doesn't have anything better to do, _Hermione thought. But something was different this time. Harry usually showed himself after Hermione knew he was there.

"Harry?" Hermione asked softly.

She knew somebody was standing in front of her, she could hear someone breathing. Hermione glanced at her watch. It was eight o'clock, Harry and Ron had Quidditch practice until nine. Whoever was standing in front of her wasn't Harry. As quickly as possible she reached for her wand.

"Stupefy!" a voice yelled. Hermione fell down on the floor.

"Ennervate."

Hermione found herself in the Forbidden Forest. She was sitting on a chair, ropes around her hands and ankles. Two cloaked figures stood before her, their hoods covered their faces.

The right figure began to speak. "Where is it?" a woman hissed.

"Where is what?" Hermione asked, wishing she could reach for her wand.

"Don't play dumb with us" the left figure, a man, said. "Where is your white book?"

"What white book?" Hermione asked. This was ludicrous, she owned a lot of books but none of them were white.

Hermione wished that she could recognize their voices, but she couldn't.

"I don't know which book you mean. I don't have a white book," she said desperately, hoping that they would finally believe her.

"That's enough!" the witch shouted.

She took a small vial out of one of her pockets. After she uncorked it, she jerked Hermione's head back by pulling her hair. With one hand she held Hermione's nose closed. _They are going to poison me!_ Hermione thought in terror. Not wanting to drink the poison, Hermione pressed her lips together for as long as she could. The witch waited patiently, knowing that Hermione had to breathe sooner or later. Just as her lungs were about to burst, Hermione gasped for air. Swiftly, the woman emptied the contents of the vial into Hermione's mouth.

"Now," she said, "let's ask her again. Where is the book?"

They hadn't tried to poison her after all, they had given her Veritaserum.

"I don't know," Hermione answered.

"You're lying," the witch shouted.

"She can't be lying!" the wizard snapped at his companion. "Are you sure that the Veritaserum is working?"

"Of course it is, I brewed it myself," the witch barked.

Hermione then realized that the two figures standing before her were the ones that had impersonated Malfoy and Goyle, using Polyjuice.

"Do have the book that we want?" the wizard asked Hermione calmly.

"No, I don't," she answered honestly.

The wizard turned to face the witch.

"And what do we do with her now?" he asked her, confused.

"I don't know, just leave her here!" the woman said angrily. "But we need her to get to the book," The wizard said, trying to keep his voice calm.

"She doesn't have it," the witch replied. "She's no use to us now."

The two moved away to make sure that Hermione couldn't hear them. All she could hear was some whispering. They were probably discussing what they were going to do with her.

In the meantime, Hermione was thinking about ways to escape. _Maybe I can apparate!_ Hermione thought. She tried, but it wouldn't work. _I'm probably still on Hogwarts grounds,_ she thought. Hermione had read in _Hogwarts: A History_ that there were some places in the Forbidden Forest where apparition was possible.

After a few minutes the wizard returned, the witch wasn't with him anymore. With a flick of his wand, the wizard released Hermione from the ropes that were around her hands and ankles. Hastily, Hermione tried to reach for her wand but before she could reach her pocket, the witch yelled, "_Petrificus Totalus!"_

Hermione felt her body stiffen like a board, before she fell on the ground. She was placed in a full Body-Bind. The wizard levitated her towards on open place in the forest. He walked forward, not noticing the branches of a tree sticking out; he lowered her to the ground. The branches caught his hood, and it slipped down. Hermione's eyes widened in shock when she recognized his face. The wizard panicked after he saw that Hermione had recognized him.

He raised his wand and said, "_Obliviate!"_

It turned black in front of Hermione's eyes.

Hermione was lying on cold wet grass. She didn't know what time it was, or how long she had been there. The full moon illuminated the sky. _This must be the __Forbidden__Forest_ Hermione thought. She tried to move her body but found that she couldn't. _What on earth am I doing here? _she asked herself, the last thing she could remember was polishing the silver in the Trophy Room. _Who put that full Body-Bind on me?_

Thirty minutes past by before she heard something coming her way. Hoping that it wouldn't be a werewolf, Hermione tried to scream, but the Body-Bind made it impossible for her to make a sound.

Suddenly, the Head Girl recognized the sound. It was the sound of hooves. _Oh God, please don't let it be a hungry hippogriff, _she hoped. If Grawp still lived then maybe he could have helped her, but Hagrid's half brother had died after a fight with a large group of centaurs in their sixth year. The hooves came closer and closer. She got a bit nervous when she saw three centaurs standing next to her. They would hurt her, would they?

"What is it?" one of the centaurs asked. 

"It's a human girl from the castle," the second centaur said. "She's hexed. What do we do with it?"

"Just leave it here," a third one said. "Humans are not of our concern."

Hermione widened her eyes; he couldn't mean that!

"But we cannot leave the human girl here, Nytum!" the first centaur said. "It's too dangerous for her."

Nytum turned towards the first centaur, "Tarys, the human girl is not of our concern."

The three centaurs left Hermione. Or so she thought, because after a few minutes, Tarys returned. He gently picked her up and assured her that he would take her out of the Forbidden Forest. As fast as he could Tarys carried her outside of the forest.

Suddenly he stopped, laying Hermione on the ground again.

"This is where I leave you," he said.

Hermione tried to look up. Since she wasn't able to move her head, the only thing she could see was a door. But it wasn't a Hogwarts door. Tarys hadn't taken her back to the castle, as she had hoped.

"Don't worry," Tarys reassured her, "he will take care of you," and with that, he knocked on the door a few times and left.

_Where has he taken me? _she thought, a look of panic in her eyes. _And who will take care of me?_ Her questions were soon answered when the door opened. As the man bent over her body, to see who was lying in front of him, Hermione looked into a pair of black eyes she recognized immediately.

_A few chapters ago Romm mentioned that Professor Harper could have heard Hermione's password. At the time I didn't remembered when this had happened. I read my fic again and in chapter 7 she stands behind Hermione when she gives her password. So Romm, you were right!_

**_Thanks to:_**Althea Grey, ElvenWarrior1, Amanda, Kawaiililkitten, PervyElf-Fancier, Severessa, Angelcat221, Larthawyn, Tabii, Kit, Aussie-mel, Tessa, Luthein, LanaManckir, Iplaay Geetar, Lauren, Nighthawk47, Anarane Anwamane, sevcrucio, Shilvigrl/Amyjenc1, Dryad, a person, Nore. **__**

I want to thank you all for your reviews. I'm glad so many people liked Dumbledore's reaction.  
Somehow I think it's a more realistic reaction then congratulating them and all.  
And of course I'm not telling you what happens next, if he will return and all……..you will just have to wait and see….uh….read.

****

**_Cearrae:_**You're right, English isn't my first language. Dutch is. LOL, is it that obvious??  
I admit, grammar isn't my strongest side.  
Nice to hear you like the new character, you will hear more of him in the future chapters.  
I'm pleased to hear that you like it. **__**

**_Hippie1212:_**Don't shoot! Think of the fic!  
Are you still hiding under that desk??

**_AlectoParadox:_**Well, now you know a little bit more about them, hope you liked it.****

_****__Avery-88:You really thought you had everything figured out??  
Wow, I wonder what your theory was. Please mail it to me!!  
I want to know what you thought._

**_Acila:_**  
What do you mean he pissed you off?  
It's just the way we like him :-)


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**DISCLAIMER:**

**Not mine … all J.K's**

**_Thank you all for reading and reviewing.  
I've been a bit busy now that college started again, so I appologize for the delay._**

****

_CHAPTER FIFTEEN  
  
_

"Hermione, what are you doing here? Why aren't you moving?"

Hermione moved her eyes fiercely left to right, hoping that it made clear that moving her eyes from side to side was the only thing that she could still do. She felt herself being picked up and carried towards the castle. Silently thanking Tarys, Hermione closed her eyes, relieved that she could return to the castle and that she could move at least one of her body parts again, the first sign that the spell was wearing off.

When Hermione opened her eyes, she was lying in the infirmary, and had the ability to move her whole body again. She sat up in her bed when she noticed someone by the door.

"Hagrid!" Hermione exclaimed, "Thank you so much, I wouldn't know what I would have done without you."

Hagrid's black eyes were worried as he looked at the Head Girl.

"Professor Dumbledore is on his way," he told her. "He wants to see if you're alright."

Hermione thanked Hagrid, who looked uncomfortable in her presence, right before the Headmaster walked into the infirmary.

After Professor Dumbledore had greeted Hermione and Hagrid, he asked Hagrid to go to his office. When there was nobody left in the room, the Headmaster began to question Hermione about what had happened. She told him that the last thing she remembered were the strange sounds in the Trophy Room, before waking up in the Forbidden Forest.

"And one of the centaurs picked me up and brought me to Hagrid's hut," she said, concluding her story.

"Professor McGonagall has informed Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley that you are in the infirmary because you fainted while you had detention," Dumbledore explained. "Before we have further information about what happened, I think it's best not to tell them what really happened."

Hermione nodded in silence. Dumbledore also told the Head Girl that she probably didn't remember anything because she had hit her head on the floor when she fell. Hermione doubted that and suspected that someone had hexed her. Probably with a memory charm, or something similar.

"Well, I think it's best if I would let you rest now. Madam Pomfrey will have my head if I don't let you rest enough," the Headmaster announced. "Unless there is anything else you would like to tell me."

Hermione suddenly remembered the decision she had made that evening. "Actually there is," she began, "_I_ kissed Professor Snape that night. It wasn't his fault; nothing else has happened." There was a short silence. "I just wanted you to know that."

This time it was the Headmaster's turn to nod in silence.

Dumbledore left, leaving Hermione under Madam Pomfrey's care, who insisted that the Head Girl would stay in the infirmary a few days for observation. With the help of a Dreamless Sleep Potion Hermione slept like a baby that night.

When Hermione woke again, she realized that it was almost time for lunch. She tried to get out of bed, but was stopped by Madame Pomfrey, who insisted that she stayed in bed for at least another day.

"I'm going to put you in another room if you don't mind," Madam Pomfrey told Hermione. She brought Hermione to a room where at least ten other girls were lying. Most of them were asleep.

"I never knew the infirmary was so crowded this time of the year. Is it always this crowded when Christmas is coming?" Hermione asked Madame Pomfrey.

"It's not!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. "They are all in here because they had a Potions accident."

Hermione's mouth fell open in amazement. "You mean all of them?" she asked. The medi-witch nodded.

Right after she had eaten some chocolate, Ron and Harry came to visit her. Their classes for that day had ended.

"McGonagall told us what happened," Ron told her. "You're working too hard, 'Mione."

"I think you're right Ron," Hermione lied.

"We've brought you your wand back," Harry told her, "You must have dropped it when you fell." He handed her the wand.

"Thanks," she said weakly.

"I'm going to see if Ginny is awake," Ron said.

"Ginny had an accident in potions," Harry explained when he saw the confused look on Hermione's face. Apparently Colin Creevy had added the dragon blood too early in his potion, which caused it to explode. Ginny, who was working on her headache potion next to Colin, was hit in the head by a piece of the cauldron.

"Pretty ironic, getting hit in the head while making a headache potion," Ron said. Ginny was still asleep thanks to the Dreamless Sleep Potion Madame Pomfrey had given her.

"How could Colin add it too early?" Hermione wanted to know. "Why didn't Professor Price stop him?"

"From what I've heard, he wasn't in the classroom," Harry told her.

Hermione's eyes widened. "He left his students unsupervised while they were working with dragon blood?"

She couldn't believe that their new professor had done that. Dragon blood was one of the most dangerous ingredients used in potions, even first years knew that.

The next day, right after she had eaten breakfast, Hermione was released from the hospital wing.

"Miss Granger, would you please pick up a few Dreamless Sleep Potions for me?" Madam Pomfrey asked her, "I just don't have enough time with so many students to take care of. I asked Professor Harper if she would make them for me."

"Why didn't you ask Professor Price?" Hermione asked curiously.

The medi-witch snorted and muttered something the Head Girl couldn't hear.

After reaching the dungeons, Hermione knocked on the door to the D.A.D.A. classroom and, after waiting about ten minutes for an answer, she pushed it open, feeling a chill as she entered . Professor Harper was standing in front of her desk, her back to Hermione. The hood of her cape was pulled over her head.

"Professor Harper?" Hermione asked softly, but Harper didn't respond.

Slowly Hermione walked towards the D.A.D.A. teacher.

"Professor?" she asked again.

When Harper still didn't respond, Hermione walked to the other side of the desk. But the figure standing there wasn't Professor Harper. The hood was lowered a little bit and Hermione could see the its face. She couldn't tell whether it was a man or woman. The face was white. Not pale, but white. The grey eyes made them look more like a cadaver then a human, if it was one.

"I'm sorry," Hermione muttered, "I was just looking for Professor Harper."

Suddenly, the room seemed even colder then it already was. The figure put the hood back up so that its face was covered once again and walked into Professor Harper's office.

About a minute later Professor Harper walked out of her office. She was surprised to see Hermione in her classroom.

"How can I help you, Miss Granger?" she asked.

"I'm just here to pick up the potions for Madame Pomfrey," Hermione answered quickly.

"I'll get them for you, just a minute," Harper said before disappearing in her office again.

She returned with a large crate filled with potion bottles. As quickly as possible, Hermione left and brought them to Madam Pomfrey.

Christmas was coming closer and closer, and Hermione couldn't wait until the next visit to Hogsmeade. She still had presents to buy for her friends and her parents. On the Tuesday before the Hogsmeade weekend they had another Potions class.

"Today we will brew Veritaserum," Professor Price started his lesson, "Veritaserum needs to mature for a full moon-cycle, so we will have it ready in about a month." He spent the rest of the class explaining which ingredients were used and how the potion was prepared. "For next week I want an essay from each of you about the uses and ingredients used in Veritaserum," the new professor concluded his lesson.

Immediately after Defense Against the Dark Arts, Hermione went to the library. She had a lot of research to do. For once though, she wasn't going to research her homework, like she normally did. This time she went to research memory charms.

She searched for about an hour, but was unable to find any counter curses. _Probably logical,_ Hermione thought, remembering Gilderoy Lockheart, who had never been restored from that backfired memory charm. To get her mind off of memory charms, Hermione started her essay for Potions. Suddenly, she noticed that the library was completely empty. Hermione looked at her watch and noticed that it was time for dinner.

Harry and Ron were already sitting at the Gryffindor table, ready for dinner, when Hermione returned from the library. Ron sighed after she told her two best friends that she had already finished their essay for Potions.

"I haven't even started it yet," Harry told her; somehow Hermione was not surprised.

"Don't you think it's bloody brilliant that Price is letting us make Veritaserum?" Ron exclaimed right before he took a bite out of his potato.

"It's weird," Harry said bluntly.

"What do you mean?" Ron wanted to know.

"It's just that the use of Veritaserum is controlled by very strict Ministry guidelines," Harry told him. "So why would they allow it to be brewed in Hogwarts?"

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked surprised, wondering how Harry could know this when he hadn't done his homework yet.

Before Harry could answer, Sharon Archer, one of the beaters on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, complaining about how Harry was making them practice twice a day, interrupted them.

**--**

_In GoF Snape tells Harry that the use of Veritaserum is controlled by very strict Ministry guidelines before he threatens to slip it into his pumpkin juice.  
In OotP it's mentioned that Veritaserum needs to mature for a full moon-cycle._

**Larthawyn:**

What was it that confused you???  
And well … now you know who it was.

**Armor:**

Really?? I wonder who is your prime suspect!

**Althea Grey:**

Thank you for your review, well now at least one of your questions is answered.

**Anarane Anwamane:**

Nope it's not … sorry to dissapoint you :-p

**Lana Manckir:**

Sorry for the cliffy last time. But this one doesn't have one :-)

LOL, I'm curious to your guesses!

**Amsev:**

Thanks for reading and reviewing. Sorry that it took me so long.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**DISCLAIMER:**

**It's still not mine … and it probably never will be.**

****

**_I hope you enjoy the next chapter._**

**_Let me know if you like it!_**

****

****

**_CHAPTER SIXTEEN_**

It was the Hogsmeade weekend. Harry and Hermione were drinking butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks. They had spent the entire afternoon shopping together. Ron and Simone were sitting at the other side of the pub. They had had a date, something that Harry didn't like at all. Harry started to complain to Hermione about how Ron was spending all his free time with Simone nowadays.

"You are just jealous," Hermione told him.

"No I'm not," Harry defended himself.

The two friends talked about school for a while, about the classes, homework and, of course, about the Christmas Ball.

"Neville told me that you two were going together," Harry said.

"We both didn't have a date, so we decided to go together," Hermione explained.

"So you're still not talking to Damien?" Harry asked.

"No," Hermione said softly.

"Well, speak of the devil," Harry muttered.

Damien was standing in front of their table. He greeted Harry and Hermione.

"Can I have a word with you?" he asked her quietly.

Hermione nodded and followed the Head Boy outside.

"I want to apologize to you," Damien said, "I shouldn't have said those mean things to you."

"It's alright," Hermione answered, wanting to go back inside again.

"So, do you still want to go to the Christmas Ball with me?" He asked carefully.

Hermione explained that she had already promised Neville that she would be his date. To be honest, she thought to herself, she would rather go with Neville then with Damien.

"I'm sorry, Damien," she said. There was an uncomfortable silence between them. "Well, I'd better go back to Harry," she said quickly.

Once she was back inside, she found that Harry was still staring at Ron and Simone. Hermione sighed, and ordered another butterbeer. When she finally had Harry's attention again, they continued talking about school, and drinking butterbeer.

"We should go back," Hermione said after their third butterbeer.

They had promised Ginny that they would visit her after going to Hogsmeade. By 'we', Hermione had meant Harry and herself, but Harry had started to walk towards Ron. Hermione sighed and collected her bags. She saw her two best friends arguing. Simone interrupted the argument by suggesting loudly that they all return to Hogwarts. In silence, the four students walked back to the castle.

The weekend flew by, and on Monday night it was time for another detention. Professor Dumbledore had informed her that she was to serve her remaining detentions with Professor Price. He didn't make her clean cauldrons, but she was required to write an essay about the ministry guidelines for the use of Veritaserum.

She sat in a corner of the classroom by herself; her teacher was marking essays in his office. The essay had to be at least 1,000 words. Hermione bit her lip as she dipped her quill in the bottle of ink. She still had to write 200 words, and having trouble, which was a bit odd considering that she usually never had problems writing essays.

The door opened and Professor Harper stormed into the classroom.

"William, are you here?" she asked, glancing around the room. "Miss Granger," the D.A.D.A. teacher said, startled when she saw the Head Girl sitting in the corner. "Do you know where Professor Price is?"

"He's in his office," Hermione answered.

Her teacher entered the office. Hermione heard her professors' voices talking, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. Just a few words were understandable. At one point, she thought that they had said her name. Two minutes later Professor Price walked out of the office.

"Miss Granger, have you finished your essay?" he asked her friendlily. Hermione confessed that she still had 200 words to write. "It's quite alright Miss Granger," Professor Price told her, "You're allowed to go back to your dormitory for tonight."

Somehow Hermione got the feeling that her professor wanted her to leave the dungeons as soon as possible. She thanked her professor and left.

_I wonder what they were talking about._ Hermione thought as she walked back to her dormitory. _It must have been important._

Finally she arrived in her room; Crookshanks was sleeping on her bed.

Hermione got into her bed, with a book. Two pages later she was sleeping too, the book still in her hand.

The next day the Gryffindors had another Potions class. They were all excited to make Veritaserum. The week before their class, Hermione had helped Neville with his potion. Since it took a month to make the potion, the Gryffindors were required to take care of their potion in their free time.

"The following ingredient will be the bumblebee wings. You only have to add four," Professor Price told the class.

A knock on the door interrupted the wizard. A first year student walked in.

"Professor Price, may I have a moment of your time?" the girl asked nervously.

"Of course," he told her. He advised the class that the wings could be added after two minutes, before he followed his student out of the classroom.

Hermione was busy telling Ron that his snake cubes were too big for the potion, when she heard a soft "oops" behind her. She quickly turned around and saw that Neville had already added his bumblebee wings. Not only had he added them too early, he had also added too many.

The potion was changing colors fast. Instead of green, it was red and was turning darker and darker. Neville leaned forward to look in his cauldron.

"I don't think that it's supposed to be red," he said softly.

The cauldron exploded. Smoke filled the Potions room. The students started to panic and ran outside into the hall, yelling loudly. Professor Harper stormed out of her classroom.

"What is all this noise?" she asked sharply.

"Neville's cauldron exploded," Seamus told her quickly.

Harry looked around. "Where is Neville?" he asked the rest of the students.

None of them had seen their fellow student after the explosion.

"He's still inside!" Hermione exclaimed.

She ran into the classroom again. Professor Harper followed her, removing the smoke with a flick of her wand. Neville was lying unconscious on the stone floor, not breathing. Hermione kneeled before him, trying every reviving spell she knew. It didn't work. In the meantime, Professor Harper checked his pulse.

"Let me try," Professor Harper said softly.

She waved her wand, but nothing happened. Five minutes later, Neville still wasn't breathing. Tears started to well up in Hermione's eyes. Professor Harper checked his pulse once again.

"I'm sorry Miss Granger," was all the D.A.D.A. teacher could say.

Neville was dead.

_A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews._

**Lana Manckir:**

I know, this chapter is a bit shorter too then the first chapters.

But longer chapters are coming soon!

**Ashes Kittyhawk:**

Thanks … I hope this was soon enough for you.

**Anarane Anwamane:**

LOL

**Armor:**

I'm not evil! hides devils horns and pointy tale

Don't worry, he'll return.

**Kate:**

Thanks for your review.

I'm glad you liked it!

**A Perfect Lie:**

Thank you, it's funny how most people say that they love Dumbledore's reaction.

**Larthawyn:**

I know it took me a while before updating.

Well … I hope you liked this chapter.

**Natsuyori:**

Thanks for your review.

And Snape will be back, don't worry …

**Pathatlon:**

Thank you!

**Sweetytweety013:**

LOL, it seems you're not the only one who wants him back in the story.

He will return soon, that's all I can say for now.

**DRUNKEN LANDLORD:**

I'm not sure if Dumbledore acted ooc, it's never happened in the books … so we don't know for sure.

**Pantspie:**

Thank you, I'm glad you like my fic.

It's so nice to hear you like my original characters.

And like I told the other reviewers … the beautiful Snape will return ;-)

**IYWwriterGirl:**

Thank you … I hope you like this chapter as well.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**DISCLAIMER:**

**NOOOOOOOOOOO NOT MINE**

_Thanks for the reviews._

_I hope you like chapter seventeen!!_

_Just let me know what you think of it._

_Enjoy reading._

**_CHAPTER SEVENTEEN_**

Unreal.

That was the word that described Hermione's feelings best. She had never lost someone that was so close to her, someone her age, a friend. True, Sirius had died when she was fifteen, but that was nothing compared to this. She just couldn't understand it. For a week it felt as if the whole world stopped. Classes were cancelled, a remembrance service was held and there was even a memorial plaque made. Professor Dumbledore had placed it in front of the greenhouses, since it was Neville's favorite place to work. It was the second time in the history of Hogwarts that a student had died, the first one was Moaning Myrtle but that had been under different circumstances.

The memorial service had been beautiful, weird as it may seem. Professor Sprout had brought hundreds of flowers, which were set up in the Great Hall. She had used roses, red and black ones. Apparently they were Neville's favorite flowers. Some of the students, including Harry and Ginny, had made small speeches. Hermione was asked by Professor McGonagall to make one as well, but she declined.

A day after the memorial service, Harry, Hermione and Ron were invited to the funeral. It was even harder then Hermione could have imagined. She felt sorry for Neville's grandmother who, after losing her son and daughter-in-law, had also lost her only grandchild. Neville's parents hadn't attended the funeral; they were still in St. Mungo's.

Only a week later most people had picked up their lives again. Students were laughing, joking, and fighting, as if nothing had happened. Even most of the Gryffindors had started to live their lives again as if he hadn't died. Who could blame them? To them Neville was nothing more then just a student, just a boy who had died due to an accident. Hermione and her friends didn't speak about Neville. Bringing up memories of him was too painful, too soon.

Professor Price stopped teaching Potions, to the student's relief. A lot of students had had accidents in his classroom and Neville's death was the final straw. Professor Harper took over his lessons as a temporary substitute when classes started again, while Professor Price started to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Rumors were going around Hogwarts that Price was about to be fired, but they didn't have a replacement for him yet. Somehow Professor Dumbledore had managed to keep the whole thing out of the papers. Everybody had expected an article in _The Daily Prophet_, but there wasn't even an obituary.

Before Hermione knew it, the time for the Christmas Ball had arrived. She wore light purple dress robes; her hair tied up in a ponytail. She didn't sleek her hair like she had in her fourth year.

The Great Hall was beautiful. Professor Flitwick had decorated it. A large Christmas tree was standing in the place where the staff table used to be, and the many tables were decorated with red and green. Professor Dumbledore had also arranged for the Weird Sisters to play at the ball.

Hermione was standing next to the Christmas tree that was decorated with at least a thousand small candles. The candles were enchanted so that the tree wouldn't catch fire. She had gotten herself some pumpkin juice. However, instead of drinking, she just held the goblet in her hands, playing with it.

"Hello," she heard a soft voice behind her. Hermione turned around.

"Hello Damien," she replied.

"So, how is everything going?" he asked carefully.

"Fine," Hermione answered, "thank you for asking."

"I'm really sorry for what happened to Longbottom," Damien said.

Hermione nodded, but didn't say a word. After a short silence, Damien went to visit a few of his friends, leaving Hermione alone with her thoughts.

After standing next to the Christmas tree for another few minutes, Hermione went over to the table where Harry and Ron were sitting. Ginny and Simone were trying to get the two boys to dance with them, but the two friends were refusing.

"Hi 'Moine," Ron greeted Hermione as she sat down next do them, placing her goblet of pumpkin juice on the decorated table.

"Hi," she replied.

"So, having fun?" Simone asked amiably.

Hermione nodded again, forcing a smile. Ron and Harry were discussing Quidditch again; this time about which team was best in the league. Parvati, who was looking for Lavender, interrupted their discussion. After reassuring Parvati that they really hadn't seen her friend, Hermione excused herself.

The Head Girl walked towards the girl's bathroom. The minute she was inside she heard a soft sniffing noise coming from one of the stalls.

"Is everything alright?" she asked softly.

There was no reply. After Hermione had used the bathroom herself, there was still someone sniffing in the stall. Hermione knocked on the door.

"Go away!" the girl in the stall yelled.

"Lavender? Is that you?" Hermione asked, recognizing the voice.

After a few seconds of silence, Lavender flushed the toilet before coming out of the stall. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. _Oh no, I completely forgot,_ Hermione thought, _Lavender was Neville's girlfriend…well sort of. She must feel awful._

"I'm fine," Lavender said, "really I am."

"I knew about Neville and you," Hermione began. Lavender's eyes widened. "I'm really sorry," was all Hermione could say.

Tears started to fall down Lavenders cheeks. Hermione couldn't stand seeing her classmate cry, and started to cry too. The two girls hugged each other, still shedding tears. Before they returned to the Great Hall, they washed their faces, hoping that people wouldn't notice that they had been crying.

Instead of returning to her friends immediately, Hermione decided to take a little walk outside. After she had gotten her cloak, she told Harry and Ron that she was going outside to check on the students.

Once she was outside, the fresh air calmed her down a bit. She walked for a while, enjoying the silence.

The silence didn't last too long.

"20 points from Ravenclaw. Go back into the castle!" she heard a familiar voice behind her yell.

Two fifth year students moved from their spot behind the bushes and ran towards the castle. Hermione started walking again, ignoring them. Before she knew it, she found herself standing in front of Neville's memorial plaque, over at the greenhouses. Hermione sighed, not noticing someone standing next to her.

_How did I end up here?_ she asked herself.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Miss Granger," the person next to her said.

Startled, Hermione looked to her left. Professor Snape was standing next to her.

**-------------**

**Armor:  
**I'm not telling if it does or not ….  
Thanks for reviewing!

**A perfect lie:  
**Hm … you do know that deaths are usually sad, don't you :-p

**Sweetytweety013:  
**Have who come back? Neville or Snape??

**Lady Spear:  
**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Don't kill me.  
Looks like I need to get a good bodyguard.  
And I hereby promise that I won't harm one hair of Luna's weird little head.

**Ashes Kittyhawk:  
**No, you didn't spell professor wrong. It's the right spelling according to my spell check! LOL

**Lana Manckir:  
**Thank you so much for your review.  
Well it seems like Snape is back!

**Silversnakesss:  
**I'm glad to hear that you like it.

**Larthawyn:  
**No, Neville and Hermione were no partners. But she did helped Neville as usual.  
I'm sorry, I know that it was a short chapter, this one isn't long either.  
But the following chapters will be longer again.

**BlondNconfused:  
**Thank you, nice to hear that you like my fic.  
I hope that you liked this chapter too.

**Moepi:  
**You're wish is my command, LOL.  
Cool nickname by the way!

**Midntie:  
**Thank you so much for reviewing.  
I'm glad to hear (or read) that you like it.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**DISCLAIMER:   
****Maybe somewhere in another universe Harry Potter belongs to me.   
****Unfortunately, in this one, it doesn't.**

_Thank you so much for reviewing my story.   
__I hope you all enjoy this chapter._

**_CHAPTER EIGHTEEN_**

Hermione's eyes widened, in amazement.

"Professor?" she said softly, not really believing that he was standing next to her.

He cleared his throat.

"If you would excuse me," he said coldly, and walked away, towards the castle.

After staying outside for another half hour, Hermione went inside again. The party had ended soon after Hermione's encounter with Professor Snape. She looked around but he wasn't in the Great Hall. For a moment, Hermione began to doubt herself.

_Did I really see him? _She thought for a moment.

She didn't have much time to think about Snape any longer, however because Professor McGonagall came towards her.

"Miss Granger, will you please help me escort the students back to their houses?" she asked the Head Girl.

The task was harder then it sounded. In the end, Hermione took care of the first and second year students that were in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, while her head of house took care of the older Gryffindor students. Damien and the rest of the teachers took care of the other students.

Finally, after Professor Sprout had made sure that there were no students outside, the Great Hall was empty, save for all the teachers except Professor Snape. The Head Girl and Boy were allowed to go back to their dormitory as the heads of houses went to check if all the students were in their dormitories. As she went to bed, Hermione, meanwhile, was still wondering if she had really seen Snape.

Christmas vacation started the next morning and many of the students went home. Since Harry and Ron were both staying at Hogwarts, as usual, Hermione decided to stay as well. Together with Ginny, they were the only Gryffindors that stayed at Hogwarts during the holidays. It was weird to see Hogwarts abandoned once the Hogwarts Express had left.

The night after the other students had left Hermione was sitting in the Gryffindor common room. Ginny and Ron were playing Wizard's Chess while Harry and Hermione talked about Christmas.

"So what are your New Year's resolutions?" Harry suddenly asked Hermione.

"I don't have any," she answered, a bit surprised. "Why?"

Harry had never asked anybody about their New Year's resolutions, nor did he talk of his own, if he had any.

He shrugged. "Just wondering."

"Do you have any?" Hermione asked him.

"No, not really," he said a bit too quickly.

Hermione sat down next to her friend. "Harry what's wrong?" she demanded to know.

She could see Harry doubting whether or not he should tell her.

"Nothing," he replied.

Hermione merely nodded her head and quickly changed the subject.

Ginny asked Hermione to spend the night in the Girls Dormitory with her. All of the other Gryffindor girls had left Hogwarts and Ginny admitted that she had felt a bit lonely the first night. Hermione agreed to stay with Ginny, but only for the one night.

The two girls went to Hermione's rooms to pack a small overnight bag. After making sure she had everybody's presents, Hermione settled down in one of the four-poster beds. It was a bit weird being back in the dormitory she had slept in, just a year ago.

The next morning was Christmas Day; Hermione and Ginny entered the common room together as Harry fed some treats to Hedwig. They greeted him, wishing him a Happy Christmas. Ginny then announced that, since Ron wasn't up yet, she was going to meet Luna in the Great Hall, to exchange presents with her first and promptly left.

"Is Ron still asleep?" Hermione asked. It wasn't like Ron to sleep this late on Christmas morning. They had already missed breakfast.

Harry shook his head. "He went to meet Simone," he explained. "He wanted to give her her presents in person."

Before he had gone, Ron had left his presents for Hermione, Harry and Ginny on the table in the common room. On the presents was a little note, explaining where he was.

"He had already left when I woke up," Harry said sounding disappointed.

After waiting for more than an hour for Ron, the two friends decided to open their presents, without him. Hermione had gotten Harry and Ron the same present: a book that she had found in Hogsmeade, about all the famous Quidditch players from the last five centuries.

From Harry she received a book about the history of house-elves, while Ron got her some chocolate and a gift certificate from Flourish and Blotts. The Head Girl didn't even know that Flourish and Blotts sold gift certificates.

"He didn't have enough time to get us presents," Harry explained when he saw Hermione's surprised look. Harry had gotten a gift certificate from Quality Quidditch Supplies.

An owl flew into the room, carrying a few packages. It was Errol with four lumpy packets that were immediately recognized as Weasley sweaters. Aside from the sweaters, in the packages were also Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans for them. The other small presents, for Ginny and Ron, were placed on the table.

Harry glanced at his watch, a present from Hermione for his birthday, and announced that it was time to go to the Great Hall for lunch.

"You go ahead, I'll be there in a minute," Hermione told Harry.

She put her presents carefully in her bag. When she was about to leave for lunch, another owl flew into the room carrying a large brown parcel with a card attached.

_To Hermione Granger,_ it read.

She put the parcel on the table and opened it. It was an old and worn copy of Hogwarts: a History. _That's weird, _Hermione thought, _why would someone send me a book I already own?_

As she looked inside the book, she saw that it was different than the copy she had. It was a first edition, at least a few hundred years old. That explained why it was so old and worn. Who would send her something like this? Surely it wasn't Harry or Ron, they would have just given it to her in person. Hermione checked the card again; the name of the sender wasn't on it.

But if Harry and Ron didn't give it to her, then who did? It certainly wasn't from Ginny; she couldn't keep it a secret that she had found the perfect present for Hermione. It was an enchanted book bag, so that it would only weigh as much as a feather. Plus, the bag could fit twice the amount of books then a normal book bag, while remaining the same size. Not that Ginny couldn't keep a secret, she was just making sure Hermione wouldn't buy herself one when they were on sale in Diagon Alley.

Hermione's mind wandered off to consider the wizards she knew. Surely none of the other students would buy something this expensive for her but she couldn't think of any other witches or wizards that would buy something like that for her.

She had no time to think any further; lunch in the Great Hall was waiting for her. Making sure she wouldn't damage it, she put the book in her bag and left the common room.

There were only eleven students who had stayed at Hogwarts during the Christmas break, so Professor Dumbledore thought it would be a good idea to have lunch at one big table. Hermione was late and there was only one free seat left at the end of the table, across from Professor Snape.

Carefully Hermione sat down, trying hard not to look at her teacher. At the other end of the table Ron and Simone were whispering to each other. Next to them, Harry and Ginny were sitting, discussing Quidditch. Luna meanwhile, was sitting next to Hermione, reading The Quibbler. The other five students were second years, three Hufflepuffs and one from Ravenclaw.

After a lunch eaten in silence, Ginny and Harry asked Hermione if she wanted to come with them to the Quidditch Pitch. It had snowed for a couple of days and the grounds were now covered with it. When Ginny asked Ron if he wanted to come with them, Ron announced that he and Simone wanted to spend the day together.

"Oh no you don't," Ginny snapped at her older brother. "Christmas is a time for family, and you're spending it with me!" She looked remarkably like her mother when she did it, maybe that was the reason why Ron listened to her.

Hermione put her new bag away in her dormitory and went outside to the Quidditch Pitch. Ginny, Ron and Simone had already gotten their broomsticks and were playing air tag. Harry, looking sad, had his broomstick as well but stood waiting with a school broom for Hermione, on the ground.

"Harry, what is wrong with you?" Hermione asked.

Harry just looked at Ron and Simone.

"Never mind," he said.

"Are you jealous that Ron has a girlfriend and you don't?" Hermione asked when she noticed him staring at the happy couple.

"No, it's just that Simone..." Harry stopped in the middle of his sentence.

"You like Simone?" Hermione asked, unsure.

"No, I meant that Ron…" Harry began.

"You like Ron?" Hermione asked, getting a bit confused now.

"Of course not!" Harry exclaimed. "I never had a best friend before I met Ron," he continued softly.

Hermione suddenly understood what he meant.

"You never had to share your best friend with anyone besides me," she said.

Harry nodded and suggested that they should join the others in the air.

Hermione had a hard time keeping her broom straight. Flying wasn't exactly one of her strongest points. She wasn't the only one though. Simone, who was also using a school broom, was having difficulties keeping control over her broom. Her broom kept shooting from left to right every once in a while.

Hermione tried to tag the others, but it was difficult for her. Harry, Ron and Ginny had more experience riding brooms and were faster than her. Finally Hermione had managed to tag Simone, who also had a slower broom.

Simone started to chase Ron and Ginny, but they were too fast for her as well. After trying to catch up with Harry, she started chasing Hermione. The two witches were flying next to each other when suddenly Simone's broom shot to the left, into Hermione.

Hermione fell off her broom, onto the ground below. Immediately the others were at her side.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry!" Simone exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"I think you broke your leg," Ginny said, pointing at Hermione's leg.

"I'll get someone," Simone said, and ran back to the castle.

A few minutes later, she returned with Professor Snape. Harry and Ron groaned. They couldn't believe that, out of all the teachers in the school, Simone had to run into Snape.

"What has happened?" he wanted to know.

"She fell off her broom," Simone explained.

Snape looked angry. "You've been flying on the Quidditch Pitch without permission?" he asked sharply.

"We're sorry," Ginny said. "We were just…"

"Silence," Professor Snape interrupted her. "Ten points from Gryffindor, each, and ten points from Ravenclaw." He turned to Hermione. "And I would have expected more from the Head Girl," he snapped at her. "Two weeks of detention. Mobilicorpus."

The spell lifted Hermione into the air and floated her inside the castle to the infirmary. After Madam Pomfrey had healed her leg, which took only twelve minutes, Harry and Ron escorted Hermione back to her dorm.

They sat down on the couch, Croockshanks purring at Hermione's feet.

"How's your leg now?" Ron asked.

"It's fine," Hermione responded. Madam Pomfrey had healed the broken bone, but Hermione's leg was still a bit stiff. The mediwitch had assured her that it would only last for a few hours.

"Simone is really sorry," Ron continued.

"It's alright. It was just an accident," Hermione said.

"It's just too bad that she ran into Snape instead of someone else," Harry said. "It's unbelievable. He's been back for a few days and he's already given you detention."

"I know," Ron said, "he even took points from Ravenclaw!"

"Why is that so weird?" Harry asked. "He takes points away all the time. He also took points from Gryffindor remember?"

"But Simone is a Hufflepuff!"

**-------------------- **

**_A/N_**

First of all, I want to apologize for my mistake in the previous chapter.   
_Neville wasn't the second student who died, but the third.   
Sorry, but I forgot all about Cedric._

_I'm not British, so I don't know if people there say Happy Christmas or Merry Christmas.   
But in the movies, they wish each other a happy Christmas, so I to chose to use that phrase._

_"Christmas is a time for family"   
Taken from PS (or, if you're American, SS), where Fred or George says it to Percy on Christmas morning._

**A Perfect Lie:   
**I know what you mean … it was a typical Neville way to die.

**Larthawyn:   
**This chapter is longer, just like the following chapters will be.   
Thanks for the review!

**iSpeekyGreeky:   
**Thank you, I'm glad to hear that you like it.

**LariLee:   
**Lol, he sure is back!

**ShilviGrl/Amyjencl:   
**Haha, you're not the only one who's happy that he is back.   
After all what's Hogwarts without Snape??

**Anarane Anwamane:   
**Thank you!!!

**Rawiya Prabhakar:   
**I KNOW! Isn't it great!

**Blackdragonflyofdeath13:   
**Thank you, it's so nice to hear that you like my story.

**Natsuyori:   
**Aaah thank you so much.

**Ashes Kittyhawk:   
**:-) You're not the only one who's happy that he's back

**Mysticalfairy-05:   
**I'm sorry for killing of Neville.   
And I'm not telling you who the 2 mystery guests are!   
(but to answer your question … you're wrong)

**Sweetytweety013:   
**Thanks for you review.   
I'm glad you like it.

**Mirjam:   
**You were right … sorry, I forgot all about Cedric when I wrote it.

**Semicharmed:   
**Thanks for pointing the Arithmancy error!   
The conversation-error was mentioned to me before.   
It has been changed after a few chapters, but the first few chapters still have that error.   
I'll be sure to change them as soon as possible.

**Mysticdarkraven:   
**Thank you … I'm sorry that I couldn't post earlier.   
I hope you liked this chapter too.

**Lana Manckir:   
**Sorry, you know me … I like cliffies!   
Thanks for pointing out the Cedric-mistake.

**Pathatlon:   
**LOL, alright … here's more :-)

**Uruviel, Lorien's Maid:   
**Thanks for reviewing.   
I know, to be honest I've based Damien's character a bit on of one of my ex boyfriend who was also a stalkerish type.

**Kail Ceannai:   
**I have to be honest with you. I suck at making up passwords.   
Honestly, I've been thinking of one for about 30 minutes before I came up with Gryffindor.   
So that's why poor Hermione is stuck with them LOL.   
But if you have a better one … just let me know :-p


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